The Spar
by KiaserKoh
Summary: Short Sum. A change against the 7th angel, twists,turns,fights AxS, Major OOC, WAFF later. M for language,violence,sensual situations, and some comedy thrown in. Back in action after some time off. New chapter explains a bit. R
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I started writing this over a year ago, and just recently finished it. I have thought strongly about whether to post this or not, but I decided to do it. There is some slight crossover in later chapters, but only slight. I'll only continue posting the story if I feel like poeple want to read it. If I get no feedback or catch alot of flac, then I'll remove the story and it won't be a bother to anyone. (Some chapters may seem short, but the later ones do get longer.)**

Standard disclaimer, I don't own SEELE, NERV, Evangelion, or any of it's sub-sidaries... meaning I don't own anything in this damn story other than the computer it was written on, oh, and the two characters that appear later (They will be obvious)..otherwise I'd be rich.

**1**

Shinji rolled over in his bed and looked at the clock through blurry eyes. 'Only 3 a.m. ... I should try to get...' was about as far as he got when he passed back out.

"Shinji, get your lazy ass out of bed and make me breakfast" shouted the fiery redhead who was also his housemate.

Shinji rolled over and slowly put his feet on the floor. 'Why doesn't she learn to make her own damn breakfast' he though as he stood up and grabbed a shirt to wear.

"It wouldn't kill you to make it yourself ya know" he said as he walked out of his room towards the bathroom. "

Maybe, but you do such a wonderful job of it" she said teasingly. Shinji grinned while she talked, he knew it might be a lie, but it was one he could live with.

After relieving himself, Shinji proceeded into the kitchen to make breakfast, "What do you want anyways?" he said out loud, though whispered "it's not like we have a lot to work with".

Asuka, having already looked through the fridge just shouted "whatever you can throw together" without ever leaving the comfort of the couch.

He nodded to himself and snatched a couple of eggs from the fridge door and some ham from the bottom shelf. As he walked over to the stove he opened one of the cabinet doors and grabbed a skillet and set it on the stove.

As he prepared to make his omelets he felt a slight poke just below his knee, looking down he saw one of his other housemates with his bowl in front of him, penpen sucked his gut in to make himself look as though he were wasting away. "Alright penpen, give me a minute" the bird squawked happily as he ran in circles as Shinji grabbed a can of fish from the cupboard and poured it into the bowl.

"Smells good Shinji, how much longer?" Asuka yelled from the living room. Shinji looked back at the stove and put the ham in the middle of the Omellette

"Just another minute or so." Shinji replied.

His ears perked up a bit as he heard Misato's door open and the semi-hung-over purple haired guardian dragged herself into the kitchen and sat at the table.

Shinji went and grabbed a beer from the fridge and put it in her hand as she sat there trying to open a beer that wasn't there yet. "Morning Misato" Shinji said as he walked back to the stove.

Misato grunted her greeting as her higher brain functions had refused to start without its morning jumpstart.

Asuka, almost as if she could tell it was time, came in from the living room and sat at the table and greeted her guardian "Morning Misato".

Misato, mid-chug, waved at Asuka with her free hand, then slammed her can down and let out a cheer and a burp, signaling that the higher brain functions received their fuel and started up. "Morning guys, mmm smells great Shinji what'd ya make?" Misato said as he carried over the two plates of ham omelets with toast.

"Here ya go, now I'm going to go out for a bit, I'll be back later." Shinji stated as he headed back into his room to change cloths.

Misato looked at Asuka who shrugged and she went back to eating her breakfast "Just remember you have sync training this afternoon, it's only three days till we attack the angel again!" Misato stated, making sure he hadn't forgotten, 'how could he?' she thought 'it's all they've been doing for weeks'.

"I'll meet you guys there at noon, don't worry" He shouted as he walked out the door.

Shinji walked outside into the cool air, and down the flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator, he found this was a better warm up for his legs.

As he got to the bottom of the stairs he started to jog in place a little and stretched his upper body at the same time. After a full minute of warm-ups he choose a direction and started jogging, he didn't care which way, cause he always seemed to end up at the park anyways.

As he jogged he let his mind wonder, even though he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, somehow managed to completely avoid any danger. Though he looked calm on the outside, his mind raced with all the techniques and fighting styles he has had to memorize in just the last few days.

It troubled him slightly that some of these were actually used in combat, or at least were used in combat. He shook his head to clear his mind and let the cool air and quiet sounds of the city flow into him as he continued on his way.

When Shinji arrived at the park it was empty, as usual. He slowed down and started walking around a small set of pillars. He chuckled to himself as he thought 'Normally I would have been out of breath; this training is really paying off.'

He turned around a walked over to the pillars, wiping the tops of them off. There were three of them, each about six inches in diameter, each one at a different height out of the ground.

After inspecting them to make sure they were dry and clean of debris, he pulled a black handkerchief from his pocket and covered his eyes, making sure he could not see.

He put his hands together in front of him; to a stranger it would look like he was praying standing up. Shinji slowly started walking forward towards the pillars, moving cautiously, but never stopping and never moving his hands.

He guided himself around all three of the pillars, starting with the smallest one and worked his way up, never hitting them. Suddenly he jumped up and landed with one foot on the smallest pillar, the left foot tucked up, he balanced himself.

Once he was steady he lowered his hands and took up a defensive stance, never letting his foot drop down. He slowly began moving his hands like he had been taught, during one of the moves he jumped backwards landing on the next highest pillar on his left foot, his right foot now tucked under him.

Again he practiced more movements, each more challenging than the last, each threatening to force him off balance. He never faltered, never even drew a bead of sweat from worry, his training had taught him that worry would lead to thinking and in combat that could get you killed 'use your instinct, do the first thing you can think of and let your body follow through, don't question it' he remembered what his Sensei had told him, and he followed it.

Again he jumped to his left performing a cartwheel that had him standing with his left hand on the pillar, now upside down. He brought his right hand to his chest and started breathing rhythmically.

He raised his feet straight up, then lowered his left leg sideways, then slowly lowered his right leg sideways.

As he continued his breathing in this upside down split stance, he heard someone walking towards him, he could not tell who it was exactly, but he could tell it wasn't one of section two, the foot steps weren't heavy enough to be an adult.

He heard a quick movement and pushed of the pillar with both hands flying through the air he quickly removed the blindfold. When he landed he turned quickly and saw a smiling red head staring at him.

"Didn't think I knew about your solo training, did you?" she asked, noticing the look of confusing on his face.

"Not really, figured you were too good to train more than what was necessary." he said shrugging his shoulders, not to concerned that she had learned about this.

She looked him over 'hmm he has changed a lot in just a few weeks' she thought, looking him over from top to bottom 'mm ... Stop that... you're not supposed to think of him like that...' she hated when her mind jumped off track like that. "Well then, why don't we see just how well our training has really come?" She asked with a smile that meant she wanted to prove she was better.

Shinji looked at his watch and noticed the time, "Actually" he started "I should head back to the house to get a shower before training. Maybe after class." he said smiling at her.

He knew she wanted a challenge, and he was going to give her one.

"Alright, you're safe for now Ikari, but you just wait!" Asuka stated as she turned and started walking towards the apartment.

Shinji just stood there and chuckled 'She'll never change' he thought

"Quit ogling my butt and hurry up, baka-Shinji" Asuka shouted as he neared the park exit. He made sure he had everything and took off after her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, well, seems like a couple of people liked it, so it looks like I'll continue posting... And seeing as how the story is actually complete, I'll get the chapters posted after I re-read and edit them (some of them read really REALLY badly) hope you'll continue to enjoy (btw I'll always take advice, it never hurts.)**

See the disclaimer in Ch1, that covers the whole thing, more or less... okay... I'll have to revise it later, but thats later.

**2**

Shinji finished showering after his morning exercise, and was heading back to his room, with only a towel wrapped around his waste, and one over his head.

"When you gonna make lunch?" asked the temperamental red head.

"How about after I put some clothes on?" Shinji said as he smiled, even though his head was covered, he was sure she was blushing. As he entered he finished drying off his hair and threw the towel on his bed and walked over to the mirror on his desk. He looked at himself carefully and realized something, 'This training really has paid off' he though, as he flexed a little.

Smiling to himself, he got dressed and threw a clean training outfit into his gym bag. Walking back into the hallway with towels in hand, he heard the shower running as he got closer. 'Hmm...' he thought with an evil grin on his face.

He walked up to the door and opened it like he had no clue someone was inside, this produced a high pitch scream from the occupant of the shower, resulting in the need to replace a window and several glasses inside the house. After the screaming stopped Shinji unplugged his ears and shouted over his shoulder

"Ya know, that almost hurt, and you better not take long if you want to eat before we have to leave." Asuka quickly realized that he never intended to look; he was just doing to get a rise out of her.

"Yeah, yeah now get out you hentai." She said, throwing a bottle of shampoo at him as he walked out the door. She continued to wash as she became lost in though 'Damn him, he's changed a lot since we started these classes... there maybe hope for him yet' she smiled then wiped it from her face.

In the kitchen Shinji made up some sandwiches and chips with some sodas. "Since we don't have a lot of time to eat, I just made something light" Shinji said as Asuka turned the corner.

Glancing at the clock she noted that it was 11 o'clock, they had less than an hour to get to class. "Well thank whoever's upstairs that Misato is driving us, we'll be there in no time" She said with a slight chuckle,

Shinji nodded and grabbed his plate, heading for the living room. They sat in relative quiet until about 11:30, when the phone rang. "Hello?" Shinji said having had the phone close, "oh... ok, be right down." he hung up the phone "Misato said to get down stairs."

Asuka moaned, but walked off to her room to grab her duffle bag. Shinji waited at the elevator for Asuka to come out, then headed downstairs together.

After a 10 minute drive that should have taken the full half hour, the two children stood somewhat dazed in front of the building.

Shinji shook his head "Good lord, didn't anyone teach her your supposed to drive defensively?" he asked,

Asuka giggled and replied "Didn't you know? She's the _reason_ you're supposed to drive defensively."

Shinji laughed as they started to walk into the building.

The class looked like your typical pre-second impact martial arts dojo, blue mats spread across the floor, and some on the walls. One wall was made entirely of mirrors, so that while training you could actually see yourself and adjust your stance as was necessary. They sat on the mats and awaited the arrival of their teacher.

As the teacher walked in he greeted them both and began the lesson without delay, for he understood the importance of their mission.

Class droned on for the first hour or two while they reviewed everything they had learned so far, making sure that every detail of the art was locked in their head for future use.

"Now," Said the teacher "Today we are going to work on increasing our speed using the techniques you have learned so far." Their teacher, Tetsuro Satsugai, was a middle aged gentleman with slightly graying hair, caused according to him _'by the level of ignorance in the world today'. _He walked around his two students paying close attention to each of their movements, making sure they were indeed getting faster at the strikes and blocks as well as correcting them with a thump to the back if they were off.

This continued for several hours before he stopped them for a drink and a snack. "You must always make sure you have energy for a fight, a lack of energy can mean the difference between life and death" he said once before, and the children were well aware of this fact, for a forty story bio-mechanical robot without power was a bad place to be.

After break was over, they went back to training the speed of their actions. After the day was done the teacher had them stand in front of him.

"Asuka, Shinji" He said, bowing slightly toward each of them "You two have a great weight on your shoulders, and even though I have said it this whole time, I wish to say it again. Thank you." He said with a deep bow, as he straightened out he continued "Each of you came here with strengths and weaknesses that you did not want others to know about" he paused and gave them a minute to think.

Shinji smiled ' He did show me that life isn't all that bad.' he thought as he glanced at Asuka.

Asuka looked down at the floor ' He did straighten me out... I just wish he had done it a little softer' she thought.

Flashback

"I'm the great Asuka Langley Sorhyu! And I'm only here because they're making me; I could've taken that angel out if _he_ didn't get in my way." Asuka stated as the teacher asked for their names.

He promptly thumped her in the leg with a pole he was walking with and stated "I do not care why you are here, you are here to learn something, and you will learn it. Is that understood?"

Asuka was furious, no one had ever hit her, and she wasn't about to be quiet about it

"Why you!" she rushed the man, who simply stood his ground. As she attempted to slap him, he grabbed her wrist and gave it a little twist, bringing the girl to her knees.

"Now, have you had enough?" He asked her. She took her other hand attempted to punch him in the... ahem... nether regions. He simply brought his foot up and stepped on her hand at the wrist and forced it into the mat, pinning her two ways.

"We can do this easy, or we can do this hard. Either way will not hurt me but you will be feeling the sting for quite some time. You will never be able to win with that attitude" he said, slowly releasing the girl.

She got up and slowly walked back towards Shinji. "A...Asuka, are you alright?" He asked making sure the girl was not really hurt.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed, obviously frustrated, she attempted to slap him since she failed to hit the teacher, but something stopped her hand.

As she looked with disbelief, the teacher and crossed the room without being heard and now held her wrist firmly.

"I will not tolerate unjustified violence in my dojo." he said in a voice that spoke louder than was heard. "You will be quiet and behave yourself, or you shall have another match with me, and I will not be so gentle next time." He said; as he held her wrist he took notice of a single tear threatening to roll down her cheek, and her attempt to hide it. "Asuka, follow me" the teacher said, after letting go of her wrist.

End Flashback

She now looked up and smiled 'I really am a better person now'

"And because you have learned to accept those weaknesses along with the strength you possess, you have become better, not just for piloting, but better people as a whole. I hope you will keep this in mind as you continue through life." said the teacher, who slowly walked to Shinji

"You are never truly alone..." He put his hand on Shinji's left shoulder, then placed a hand on Asuka's right shoulder "... and you will always need someone's help in life, for nothing can be achieved by one's own self." He gently squeezed their shoulders and turned to leave.

"Please make sure to turn the lights off before you leave." he said over his shoulder, for it was not unusual for them to stay after and continue practicing.

Shinji walked over to his bag and grabbed a bottle of water out and took a swig. He took a moment and looked at Asuka, Her hair was tied back in a ponytail down to mid back, and her training gear was much like his, except for the torso. Her shirt was a little snugger in some places, and he took notice of this 'hmm... wait... I shouldn't...' he thought, then moved and started staring at the wall on the far side of the room.

Asuka was doing some stretches after their training, she usually tried to stay loose after practice, and she learned quickly that muscles get sore if you stopped too quickly.

As she walked over to her own bag she noticed Shinji looking at her, but she didn't say anything. As a matter a fact, she kind of enjoyed the attention she got from him now, 'and he's not back looking either... wait... ah forget it', she noticed his head turn real quick and she smiled, 'now's my chance' she thought.

"Oh Shinji, I believe you owe me something." She said in a really sweet voice.

He knew this was coming, but he was hoping she had forgotten after the shower incident. He stood and started to walk towards the center of the room,

"I know, I know... lets just get this over with." he said as he took his position on one side of the mat.

"Now, now there is going to be a prize, so you better actually try, and not just give me some half assed attempt." said Asuka, knowing this would get his attention.

"What's the prize?" he asked raising an eyebrow, half curious, half scared.

Asuka thought for a minute then nodded before she spoke "Okay, here's the deal, the winner has to take the loser out..."

"HEY! Wait a ..." He protested,

"I'm not done yet." she said as he started to argue. She began to blush a little as she tried to word it "the loser has... has to tell the winner what they really think of them."

Shinji just stared for a minute, "Huh?" he said obviously confused.

A/N confused me for a minute too... how sad...

Asuka sighed "That means, that if you lose, you have to tell me how you really feel about me."

Shinji nodded then froze, 'That means... if I lose...' He thought as he swallowed hard 'this isn't going to bode well.' Shinji looked at the floor while he processed it.

"Alright, you're on." He finally said and he raised his head.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed so far. It's truely nice to know that there are people out there who like to read the stuff that my mind had spewed forth. For your reading enjoyment I bring you Chapter 3.**

Read the disclaimer in chapter 1, it covers most of the story, but I'll add them as I deem required per chapter. Like in this one, I do not own Texas Roadhouse, though if I had their recipe for ribs I would RULE THE WORLD!!!... ahem anyways...

**3**

Shinji stood and walked over to the ring on the floor where the spars usually took place. Asuka proceeded to her side of the ring and took up a combat stance.

"You ready Shinji?" She asked. He nodded "Just remember the deal, oh and no cheating." the last comment made her grin

"Would I do that?" She asked trying to act innocent.

"I know you well enough Asuka." He stated then realized something "... Um... how are we going to know..." suddenly Asuka lunged forward and attempted a roundhouse,

Shinji quickly ducked under her right leg and attempted to sweep her left out from under her. As she felt his movement under her, she quickly brought her leg up and landed perfectly on her right foot, then pushed off it again completing a no-hand cartwheel that put her several yards from Shinji. As she stood she grinned at him,

"Your better than I thought Shinji" she said as he stood up,

"Yeah well... that's the kind of crap I was talking about... but since you started it" Shinji quickly ran towards her and jumped into the air, bringing his right hand down, Asuka crossed her arms and brought them up to block the punch. Shinji saw the defense and brought his left hand down, grabbing both her wrists as he landed, quickly dropping to the ground he put a foot into her stomach and rolled backwards flipping her into the air.

Asuka landed a few feet behind him flat on her back, Shinji quickly flipped back onto his feet and turned to face her.

"Oh, that was interesting." She muttered as he slowly rolled over and stood again.

She brushed some invisible dust off her shoulder and took up another stanch. "Well, you ready to quit playing around?" She asked as Shinji dropped into his own stance.

"Any time you are." He said with a smirk.

They both stood at opposite ends of the mat, and suddenly rushed each other. Then the real match began, Shinji swinging a hard right while Asuka came in with a swift right kick. He brought his left leg up to block the kick while his fist brushed through hair as she ducked. He brought his left arm down and trapped her leg between his own leg and arm.

Asuka brought her left leg up in an attempt to catch Shinji in the neck, but missed as he leaned back losing his grip on her leg causing her to side flip to stay standing, as he back flipping away to keep his balance.

'This could take a while' He though to himself. As the fight continued Shinji took notice of a slight weakness in her technique.

'There it is again….I wonder' Shinji sidestepped as Asuka threw a straight left, he let her momentum carry her then reached around and clasped his hands together in front of her, holding her in a bear hug.

'Don't think about it, don't think about it...' he chanted to himself as he realized where his arms where currently resting.

Asuka blushed slightly as she felt his arms tighten around her 'hmm... he's not such the weakling I remember' then she realized that if she didn't start to fight back, he might get the wrong impression.

Suddenly she brought her foot back up between his legs in an attempt to hit his one true "weak" spot. Feeling the quick movement, he brought his knees together and trapped her foot at the ankle between his knees, bringing them both to the mat on their knees.

"That was a rather cheap shot, don't you think?" he asked as he held her.

She let out a chuckle "Every little bit helps." She replied. Somewhat immobilized by his grip, Asuka struggled in a vain attempt to break free. Thrusting her elbows back didn't work seeing as he had her arms pinned tightly against her.

Meanwhile Shinji had a few thoughts going through his own mind, 'That was too damn close, if I hadn't been paying attention... Ugh'

Asuka thought for a minute then lowered her head forward, feigning defeat. "Ah, so you..." She suddenly brought her head back, interrupting him and slamming in to his jaw, causing him to lose his grip and lean back.

She quickly leaned forward and delivered a devastating double kick to his chest, pushing any air out of his lungs, using the force to flip forward back to her feet, ready to continue the fight. Shinji on the other hand was not as eager as he lay on the ground attempting to catch his breath.

After several seconds Asuka walked over to him and offered her hand to him, something she would never have done before this class. "Come on Shinji, it's almost time to head back." she said as he pulled himself off the ground with her help.

"Well... looks like... you owe me dinner..." he said still catching his breath, "Although... I guess I have to tell you what I really think of you... huh?"

Asuka smiled as she walked towards the locker room with her gym bag "That's right! And you can do it while we eat!" she stated.

Shinji smiled and walked over to his own gym bag and headed back towards the men's locker room. As he walked into the room he looked himself over in the full length mirror, 'hmm I've really improved myself' he thought as he looked over his recently acquired physic, though not completely buff, he had more muscle than he did weeks ago.

He then looked over his jaw to check for bruising. Fortunately, he half expected her to do that so he turned his head and caught most of the hit on the left side of his jaw; otherwise he'd be cleaning up a bloody mess on the workout mat right now.

After a quick shower he grabbed his blue jeans from his bag, along with his short sleeve t-shirt and steel toe boots and changed for his dinner "date" with Asuka,

"That just sounds so weird for some reason" he said to himself as he looked in mirror with a smile. He shook his head clear to make sure he had plenty of time to think about what he was going to say when she finally asked him to pay up on his half of the bet.

Meanwhile in the ladies locker room Asuka was putting on the finishing touches of her outfit, she wore tight low-rider jeans, with a simple white shirt that showed off a little bit of her stomach.

As she adorned her famous hair clip/neural links she looked herself over in the mirror of the room. She grinned to herself as she thought 'It'll be nice to see him squirm... he hasn't done much of that since we started these classes.' She looked herself over once more then slipped her shoes on and walked out of the locker room, carrying her gym back over her shoulder. As she left the locker rooms she saw Shinji waiting by the front door.

"Hey, have you been waiting long?" She asked

"Not really, I wasn't paying much attention to the time to tell you the truth." He replied as they walked out the doors.

After making sure the doors were locked, they headed off towards the restaurant of Asuka's choosing, since Shinji didn't really care where they ate.

As they got closer to the restaurant Shinji looked at her like she might have lost her mind. "Don't look at me like that Shinji. This place has really good food. Come on, I know there will be something here you will like." She said as she noticed his glance.

Shinji rolled his eyes a little and followed her. As they walked through the big double doors, they were met by the head waitress at the podium.

"Welcome to the Texas Roadhouse, how many this evening?" She asked cheerfully

"Just two" Asuka replied, the waitress looked at the seating chart in front of her and called one of the servers over

"Just follow Tiffany here to your table" she said.

Tiffany walked up and greeted them then showed them towards their seats, grabbing a tray of rolls along the way, "Is this your first time to Texas Roadhouse?" she asked as she seated them,

Asuka shook her head "Nope, I used to eat at one all the time in Germany." she said with a smile.

Tiffany nodded and got their drink orders and walked back towards the kitchen.

Asuka smiled as she looked over at Shinji, he was admiring the western look of the place, a stuffed armadillo on one of the divider walls was on it's back with an empty beer bottle in its paws got a chuckle from the boy.

He looked around the table and found a small bucket filled with peanuts, he raised an eyebrow and looked at Asuka, "

You can snack on them if you want, and throw the shells on the floor." she said, as if sensing his question. He looked shocked,

"You just throw them on the floor?" he asked, somewhat confused.

She nodded "Yeah, its part of their gimmick" she answered. He smiled and grabbed a few peanuts.

A short while later the waitress came back with their drinks and took their orders, Asuka ordered the 12oz sirloin with mushrooms and pepper jack cheese on top, a loaded baked potato and a salad, Shinji ordered the ribs and chicken combo with the fries.

They sat and talked about the class, and how they thought the up coming fight would go. They even chatted about school a little while they waited.

"I still can't believe you've already graduated college." He said, she just nodded,

"Yeah, but I didn't have to take foreign languages, so the Kanji is still a bit of a hindrance." She said.

Shinji smiled before speaking, "Ya know, if you don't mind the offer, I'd be willing to help you with it if you want."

Asuka seemed a little shocked but nodded with a smile as their dinner arrived.

After dinner was done they sat and continued talking. After a while Tiffany came back with their check, Shinji instinctively went to grab it when Asuka snatched it up.

"Don't forget, this was my treat." she said with a smile. She slipped her NERV card into the book, and set it aside for Tiffany to pickup.

"Now that dinners out of the way" she started "I believe you still have to pay up your side of the bet." Shinji sat back in the booth and closed his eyes for a minute before leaning forward again,

"Promise not to laugh or make fun of me?" he asked, making sure that what he was going to say wouldn't cause him to much grief. Asuka looked at him with a smile

"Of course not, Sensei always says, 'Those who speak the truth are stronger than those who cannot'."

Shinji nodded his head and closed his eyes again, as if seeking the appropriate words. "Well... when I first met you I thought you were a stuck-up, snobbish, I'm-better-than-you bitch" he started,

Asuka's eyes got wide and she started to fume but Shinji cut her off by raising his hand "I said when I _first_ met you, but after going through these classes with you, and seeing a side that I'm sure not a lot of others have seen. I can see that you are a very caring, compassionate, loving person. That is one of the reasons I have such respect for you, you're the kind of person I could only have wished to be, outgoing, and confident in your skills." he finished, slightly shaken, but none the worse for wear.

Asuka stared at him for a few minutes, confused, shocked, and surprised. He was right; she had never allowed people to see the side of her that she has shown during training.

No one had ever said such nice things about her before either, she was actually left speechless, and she didn't know how to respond to it at first.

She eventually found her voice "Shinji... Thank you, I've never had anyone say something so nice about me, but you're wrong about yourself. You too are kind and caring, I now that if I had something I needed help with that you would give of yourself without a second thought, and I've never had a friend or relative that would do that for me. I thank you Shinji Ikari, thank you for being the friend I have always wanted." She wiped her eyes as they had gotten a little "moist" during her speech.

Shinji smiled and reached his hand out and took hers and gave it a little squeeze "its true Asuka, if you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. I will always be there for you." She looked at him and smiled widely then nodded.

Tiffany returned with the receipt for Asuka to sign, and soon they were on their way back home. As they walked down the street, gym bags in hand, both of them had smiles on their faces.

From the shadows five guys watched the two as they walked down the street.

"Are you sure that's her?" One asked towards the guy who was the leader of the group.

He nodded "Yeah, that's her, and that other one is Shinji Ikari, he's not a big threat." he stated as he motioned for the guys to pull back and reposition further down the road. 'This will teach that bitch to mouth off to me again.' the leader thought as they snuck down another back alley.


	4. Chapter 4

**All right, I want to thank those that have reviewed. I'm going to try a different paragraph style, as was recommended by Razgriz, and see how it feels. If I don't like the way it reads, or others seem to like the way it was, then I'll go back. Be forewarned that this chapter contains language, suggestive acts, and violence, also there is WAFF towards the end... but what do you expect?**

Disclaimer is in Chapter 1, read it, memorize it, cause I'm not reposting it.

**4**

Asuka and Shinji continued their walk back to the apartment. As they crossed the last intersection before the apartment Shinji noticed something move out of the corner of his eye. That's when it hit her, a steel pipe that is, slammed into the back of her right leg, sending her to the ground with a cry of pain. Two guys jumped out of the shadows and grabbed Shinji by the arms and held him securely, two more came out and surrounded Asuka, one still wielding a pipe. The leader of the gang came out, Shinji recognized him instantly, his name was Techi Kotaru, known throughout the school to have a temper rivaled by no one, and also a major crush on Asuka. Shinji knew Techi had asked her out shortly after she arrived in the school, he also knew she shot him down. Techi had been outraged, then when it became common knowledge that Shinji and Asuka lived together, that drove him over the brink.

He had been following them for several weeks, watching and waiting for the right time to make his move and make her sorry for making him look like an ass in front of the whole class. "Well, well what do we have here?" he asked as he looked over at Asuka lying on the ground crying while she held her knee. "A stuck up bitch..." he spat at her "... and her little play toy" he turned to face Shinji sizing him up "You said no to me for this little piece of shit?" he asked to no one in particular, his cronies chuckled as Shinji struggled to get loose. "None of that now." Techi said as he delivered a sharp blow to Shinji's mid-section, knocking the wind out of him. He slumped forward as he attempted to gain his breath. One of the guys pulled his head up by his hair so he could see forward. "Now it's time for a little pay back." Techi said as he kicked Asuka in the knee, she screamed in pain as his foot made contact with the broken joint.

Shinji caught his breath quickly and shouted "Asuka, no!" but the assault continued with another kick to her stomach.

Techi laughed as he turned towards Shinji, "Now you'll watch as I take this little bitch and have my way with her, then we'll finish you off, a little insult to injury if you will." he turned towards Asuka and started to pull her pants off while two of his goon's held her hands down.

"STOP!" Shinji yelled "Let her go, or you'll never see the light of day." he stated, he wasn't sure where section 2 was, but he couldn't wait for them anymore.

Techi looked at Shinji like he had lost his mind, "Are you kidding me?" he asked with a grin on his face, "The way I see it, you're never going to see the light of day, we have you out numbered punk, and there is no one that's going to save you now."

The gang all started laughing as Shinji hung his head, he had to stop thinking about the situation and just act, it was what their Sensei had always told them. With a move that was barely seen Shinji brought his left boot straight up and kicked the man holding him square between the eyes, knocking him out cold. Freeing up his left arm he brought it around and chopped the other in the throat, a small crack could be heard as the members windpipe collapsed from attack and he hit the ground gasping for air. The two holding Asuka down rushed Shinji from both sides, he simply back stepped and the two guys ran into each other, Shinji crouched down and punched them both in the knees, they both screamed in pain as their knees shattered with the impact. The two started crawling away from Shinji in fear.

Techi looked on in horror as Shinji picked up the pipe that had been dropped. Techi started to back up, but found that he was closer to the wall than he realized. Shinji slowly started walking towards him. As Techi turned to run, Shinji threw the pipe and tangled his feet up causing him to fall. That was all the time Shinji needed to catch up to him, Shinji jumped into the air and brought his right knee down square into Techi's back, a sickening crunch let loose upon impact.

Techi lay on the ground, crying his eyes out in pain as Shinji rolled him over; Shinji drew his hand back to deliver the death blow when Asuka cried out to him "Shinji! Don't do it! Please!"

Shinji looked back towards her, his eyes vacant of emotion; he lowered his arm, then raised it and punched Techi square in the face. Shinji let go of the boy's shirt as he fell unconscious on the ground.

He walked over to where she laid on the ground "Are you ok?" he asked she shook her head "I think they broke my leg." She said between sobs. Shinji looked at her knee and nodded, "Alright, this might hurt a little" he told her "Here, bit down on this." Shinji tore off part of his shirt and rolled it tight, then gave it to her. "I'm going to carry you to the house, let section 2 take care of them." He carefully slipped his arms under her, making sure not to cause her anymore pain. "If any of you are still conscious, tell him if he tries this again, I won't be so forgiving." Shinji slowly started walking the rest of the way back to the apartment.

Asuka reached out and pushed the button to open the door, thankfully Misato had been home, for neither of them could easily have reached their keys. "Misato call for an ambulance!" Shinji shouted as he entered the apartment.

"What? Why do you..." Misato started to say as she entered hallway. Shinji continued to carry her down the hallway and carefully placed her on the couch. "Just call them." he told her as he walked to the bathroom to get the medical kit.

"Their on the way, now what the hell happened?" Misato asked as she hung up the phone. Shinji came back into the living room with some gauze to wrap her leg in. "We were walking home when some thugs from school..." Shinji was interrupted as the phone rang. Misato quickly answered it "Hello? Yes this is her... He did what? Alright, have them arrested and detained at HQ." Misato hung up the phone "That was section two, they just arrested the guys that attacked you." She looked at Shinji as he carefully wrapped Asuka's leg. Misato walked over and put a pillow under her leg to help support it

"Shinji, could I talk to you for a minute?" she asked as she motioned towards the kitchen, he nodded then looked at Asuka

"Hey, I'm going to be right back. Promise" he leaned down and kissed her forehead real quick before getting up.

"They told me you single handedly took on all five of those guys. Is that true?" She asked him.

He nodded his head "Yeah, I had to Misato. They were going to do things to Asuka." He dropped his head down at the thought.

"You were lucky Shinji, if any of them had been carrying a gun, we'd have to call a coroner, not just the ambulance." She said softly "... but... you did a good job, you did a very brave thing for her, you know that, right?"

He nodded his head "I know, what's going to happen to those guys?" he asked "Most likely they will be arrested for assault on NERV personnel, but the one you caught in the throat, they aren't sure he'll make it." Shinji just stared at her as the words rolled around in his head.

She walked to his side. "It's ok Shinji, it wasn't your fault, and you did what you had to do to save yourselves. No one's going to blame you" she tried to console him as best she could.

"Shi... Shinji..." Asuka called for him from the living room.

Shinji just nodded towards the older woman and walked into the living room. "Yes Asuka, what do you need?" he asked "Do...Don't leave... please..." she reached out and grabbed his hand; he kneeled down next to her and smiled "I won't."

At the hospital Asuka was undergoing an operation in an attempt to reset her knee. The doctors said it was a very serious break, and they weren't sure how well she would be able to walk after it had healed. Shinji sat patiently in the waiting room with Misato when Ritsuko walked into the room.

"Hey guys. Shinji, how are you holding up?" She asked, he shrugged and put his head back into his hands. Misato got up and walked towards Ritsuko and they walked into the hallway together.

"So? How is she doing?" Misato asked.

"She'll be alright. She might have a slight limp, but other than that, she should be ok. What about him?" she said motioning towards Shinji.

Misato shook her head "He's a little shook up, but can you blame him?" Ritsuko nodded then excused herself as she was paged

"I'll check up on you in a bit." she said as she walked away. Misato walked back into the waiting room.

"Hey Shinji, you want something to drink or a bite to eat?" She asked

He shook his head "No, I just wish this was over..." he got up from the chair and started to walk out of the waiting room "I'll be back, page me when she gets out of surgery." Misato nodded and walked over sit on the chair.

Shinji walked around the outside of the NERV hospital, replaying the events of the evening in his mind.

'Did I do the right thing?'

'Of course you did, they were going to hurt a friend'

'But I might have killed someone.'

'Maybe, but they were going to kill both of you, would you rather of had that?'

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he continued his walk. A short time later he ran into Kaji at the entrance to the hospital.

"Hey Shinji, I heard about what happened, how is she doing?" he asked

"I don't know, she was still in surgery when I came out." He replied

Kaji nodded, "You know, that was a very brave thing you did for someone you've only known a short time. If I didn't know better I'd say you l..."

"I do not!" Shinji stated, cutting him off. "She's a friend that was in trouble, that's all."

Kaji smiled, 'yeah, sure, I've only seen someone look like that when they defend someone they really care for' Kaji thought "Well, I'm going to go up and see if she's out yet, care to join me?"

Shinji nodded and they started to walk back into the hospital. "Shinji Ikari, please report to the third floor waiting room. Shinji Ikari to the third floor waiting room please" the overhead speakers said. Shinji and Kaji got on an elevator and start up to the third floor. As they got near the waiting room Misato came out and met them.

"She's in room 3014, but they say she can only have one guest." She told them. Kaji and Misato looked at each other and nodded, "Go on Shinji, you should see her first." Kaji told him, he nodded and started off towards her room.

Asuka laid in the hospital bed, her right leg in a cast. She heard a light knock at the door, "Come in Shinji"

He smiled a little as he walked into the room. "How'd you know it was me?" he asked he slowly walked in and pulled a chair next to the bed.

"Just a feeling." she said "Listen, I want to thank you for what you did earlier." Shinji started to say something but she put her hand up. "Please, let me finish." She took a deep breath "I don't mean just the fight, it must have hurt to carry me all the way back to the apartment, and then the kiss..." they both blushed a little "... and then how you stayed with me on the ride over, and until they took me to the operating room. No ones ever been this nice to Me." she motioned for him to lean in, and as he did so she kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you Shinji Ikari." He smiled as he sat back down.

"You're more than welcome, Asuka." he said, then hung his head and continued "I just couldn't stand there while he threatened you like that, I could never let anything happen to you Asuka. You're my friend, and I don't have a lot of those. What he did was inexcusable, and..." he paused as he realized he was starting to babble "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go off like that" he said with a half smile.

She looked him over and smiled "Will you stay with me tonight? I'm not fond of hospitals." She asked. Shinji nodded with a grin "I know what you mean, they are kind of creepy. Let me just tell Misato so she can go home." She nodded as he got up and walked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, it's taking me longer to edit the chapters, probably cause at the time it sounded good, then I realized later that some of the stuff was just way to crappy to actually use. I do want to thank everyone that has read it so far, and hope that everyone will continue reading it. Enjoy, and R&R.**

Disclaimer in ch1, enough said.

**5**

Shinji stood in the kitchen preparing breakfast for Asuka. They had brought her home late last night, and though she was still tired, she still had her appetite. As he put the final touches on the plate he heard her call for him.

"I'll be there in a minute." he replied as he picked up the tray and began to make his way back to her room.

As he entered he took a minute to admire her. She was propped up against the wall with some pillows; her cast leg was up on a pillow as well.

"Here you go, Asuka" he said as he put the tray down in front of her.

She smiled "Hmm... My favorite." He nodded and took a seat at her desk and watched her.

After several minutes she glanced up at him "Something on your mind Shinji?"

He jumped a little as she spoke to him; he hadn't realized he had been staring. "N...No... Well..." he stuttered a little "I'm just... so impressed with you. I mean, here you are, less than twenty-four hours after being attacked, and you don't seem to have an ounce of pain." He sighed a little "I just wish I had that kind of strength."

She smiled a little and hung her head "Actually Shinji, the pain is more intense than I show. Besides, you were the strong one actually. You took on those guys all by yourself, and all because of me. That means a lot to me." she said with a little crack in her voice.

He smiled and walked over to her and kissed her forehead "I'll be outside with Misato; we're going to go over the new plan of attack." She nodded and went back to eating her breakfast.

As he walked into the living room, Misato had some paperwork spread out on the table top. Everything from energy consumption rates to the latest regeneration report on the angel.

"Hey Misato, how's it going?" He asked.

She threw her hands up in the air and collapsed on the couch, then reached over to grab another beer "It's... it's going... but I don't see how this is going to work with only one Eva. We need to use two, but Rei's Eva isn't ready, and we both know how Asuka would feel if we used hers."

Shinji nodded his head and sat down next to her. "But you heard Ritsuko, Asuka's not allowed to pilot till her leg is healed. Any kind of damage while in the Eva could permanently injure her." He leaned forward and grabbed some of the paper work. After looking it over for a little while he came up with and idea "What if we use the battery packs on the shoulder pylons? That could give me an extra minute or so at full capacity."

She leaned forward and looked over some of the paper work "Hmm... that could work... but how will you deal with both of them when they separate?" She asked as she glanced at him.

He put his head in his hands for a minute and thought "If it means protecting this city, I will find a way to pull it off. I will not put Asuka or Rei in the way of danger. We don't even know if Asuka's Eva will activate with a different pilot in it. So this is going to be all on me, But don't worry" he said with a smile "I don't plan on losing this fight."

Misato looked at him for a minute then made a sly smile "Oooh... do I sense some feelings for someone special?" she smiled and crept closer.

Shinji rolled his eyes and stood up "Oh come on Misato." he said with a slight blush.

Misato burst into laughter and stood up "Alright, alright... I'm going to head into HQ and talk this over with Ritsuko" she told him as she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.

Shinji walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a spare piece of toast and started to munch on it.

Asuka sat in her room, her breakfast done, but she had heard the whole conversation. 'Why, why would he do this... what could... could he...' She shook her head 'No, he can't...' She thought. "Shinji... could you come here please?" She called.

He knocked on her door and waited for her to answer, "You know... you don't always have to knock." She said,

He smiled "I know, but it's the courteous thing to do." he said.

She lowered her head "I have a question for you" All cheer was gone from her voice.

He looked at her, a bit of worry on his face "You can ask me anything, you know that."

She looked up at him with moisture in her eyes "Why... Why are you risking yourself for us? You know that Rei could pilot my Eva, just let her do it..." her voice cracked a little, not really wanting to let someone else pilot her Eva.

He walked over to her and sat down on the bed next to her "Listen, its ok. Really, I know I can do this. You just have to believe in me. Besides, it would take way to long for Rei to be able to pilot it." He said as he reached up and slowly caressed her cheek. He slowly leaned in and kissed her forehead "Listen, Sensei taught us that we can exceed our normal capabilities if we just put our mind to it... and to tell you the truth, I think I figured out how to do it." he smiled as she looked up at him.

"So... does that mean you let me win that fight?" she asked,

he suddenly found a spot on the opposite wall very interesting and started to whistle very poorly

"You did!" she said with a laugh, her eyes now dry "I can't believe you."

He laughed as she playfully hit him in the shoulder "Hey now, what I said to you at dinner was true though, I would never lie to you."

She smiled and lay her head down on his chest "Thank you again Shinji." He smiled as he rubbed her back.

After she was asleep Shinji walked back out into the living room and sat down on the couch. "Well, this is one fine mess you've gotten yourself into Ikari." He said to no one in particular.

Penpen walked out of the kitchen towards him and jumped up on the couch, and just looked at him.

Shinji raised an eyebrow at the bird, "What? Just cause I talk to myself doesn't make me crazy." He said in his own defense.

"Wark" was all Penpen had to say about it, he then turned to face the T.V. and pushed a button on the remote, quickly changing channels to a nature show about penguins.

Shinji watched in amusement, "So what, is that like porn for you or what?"

Penpen just gave him a look that could have killed.

Shinji threw his hands up in mock defense "I was just kidding." He said with a chuckle.

Misato called Shinji later that evening, informing him that she was going to stay at work for the night to make the final preparations for the fight the next day. As he hung up the phone Asuka called for him from her room.

She was lying down now, having finished dinner. As he walked into the room she propped herself up on her elbow. "Hey, what did Misato want?" she asked.

He sat on the edge of her bed and told her how Misato was going to stay over and make sure everything was set up. He also told her the general outline of how things were going to go down in the fight.

"Okay, but what about if they split? I mean, don't they have to be split to expose their cores?" she asked.

He nodded slightly before responding. "Yeah, Misato asked me about that before. I guess I'm just going to have to handle the situation as it comes up. But don't worry, this shouldn't be a problem." He said as he stood up. "Alright, we should get to sleep. We're going to move you to headquarters before the attack, and I'm going to need all the rest I can get." He said as he grabbed her empty dinner plates and started to head out of the room.

He looked back one more time and smiled at her before he turned the light off and headed into the kitchen to drop the dishes off before he went to bed.

The next morning came too quickly for the children for neither slept well through the night. One thinking about the fight, and the other thinking about the safety of the pilot.

Shinji got up and went through his normal routine, before getting dressed to help Asuka into the shower. He helped her cover the cast to keep it from getting wet, but left so she could undress and wash up. After her shower, she changed into the clothes that Shinji had left in the bathroom for her.

Misato showed up shortly after they finished with breakfast and took them to headquarters.

Shinji stood on the catwalk in front of Unit 01. He was suited up and ready to get started. He just stood there looking into the eyes of the giant beast. He slowly walked across the catwalk towards the shoulder access, then climbed onto the shoulder and took a seat. He took a deep breath then started "Okay, listen to me" he said "This is going to be a tough battle... It's going to be very tough, because we won't have the backup that we originally had planned. But we have to do this... there is someone... someone I've come to care about... and if we fail... there won't be anything for me.. And somehow I know you feel that." He looked over at the helmet of the guardian, and though others would have thought he was losing his mind, he could have sworn he sensed it nod its head slightly in approval of his reasons.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, first off I want to again thank those that are reading. In regards to the comment from Shippuuden, the mentioning ot Texas Roadhouse and Tiffany were complete coincidences. This one took a little bit longer than most to go through, as it contains the fight sequence I wanted to make sure it flowed alright. Hope everyone likes it.**

Disclaimer in Ch1... also the song used in this chapter belongs solely to the original artist, writer, composser... I just used it cause I like to listen to music when I am fighting in a game... and this is a good one... there will be more later all with similar disclaimers as this.

**6**

Shinji stood in the command center and was looking at the current information about the angel. Misato was talking to Ritsuko about the final details on the Eva.

"How do we know this is actually going to work?" Ritsuko asked.

Misato shrugged her shoulders "We don't, but that's never stopped us from trying." She leaned in a little and whispered "Besides, something tells me that he's doing this for more than the city" she grinned a little and straightened up.

Shinji called for them from one of the consoles "Misato, Ritsuko. I have a request." He stood up and adjusted a small device on his upper right arm.

They walked over to him with quizzical looks upon their faces. "What do you need Shinji?" Misato asked.

He though for a second about how to word it "I know it's completely against the rules and regulations, but I don't want an audio feed into the cockpit. I'll keep a text window opened; just have everything sent through that."

Ritsuko was the first to respond "Absolutely not! You'll have no way to communicate back with us that way." Misato nodded her head in agreement.

"Don't worry about that, I can keep the line out open so you can hear me. Just please, ignore some of what you may hear." he said as he started towards the cages.

Ritsuko looked at Misato, who shrugged her shoulders and gave the orders to start the final preparations. "Looks like you'll be manning the keyboard for this one Rits'." Misato said with a smile "After all, you are the fastest typist we have." Misato giggled as Ritsuko rolled her eyes and thought 'What the hell is this kid planning.'

Shinji crawled into the cockpit and prepared himself for the initiation sequence. He readied himself as the LCL filled the entry plug. He blocked the audio as soon as he was given the go signal. He opened a text window connected in the command center.

"Test, test can you guys hear me out there?" he said.

>CmdCtr: We hear you loud and clear.

"Roger that." he replied to the text. He closed his eyes as his Evangelion was moved into position on the launch pad.

>CmdCtr: Will wait for your go ahead on launch

Shinji opened his eyes and hit the play button on the device.

**Yo... yo  
Forfeit the game  
Before somebody else  
Takes you out of the frame  
Puts your name to shame**

"GO!" He shouted and in a split second was soaring towards the surface at top speed. As he got halfway up the chute he barked "Release the safety stops on exit point!" Two seconds later he flew up out of the exit, the elevator stopping flat on the ground, but the lack of restraints allowed the Eva to travel high into the sky, propelled by the same force that brought him to the surface.

**Cover up your face  
You can't run the race  
The pace is too fast  
You just won't last**

Shinji dropped both hands out to his sides and opened his palms as two spears slid into them from under arm holders. He flipped and launched both of them.

The angel quickly side-stepped, causing it to stand between them both. Shinji flipped a switch on the console and an energy field formed between the two spears. As the two halves of the angel slid away from each other, they quickly changed into the same forms they had at the beach.

**You love the way I look at you  
While taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through  
You take away if I give in  
My life, my pride is broken**

>CmdCtr: Target Alpha and Target Beta currently advancing.

"Nah really? Tell me something I don't know." Shinji yelled as he ducked behind another blast shield.

He dumped both the rifles he had, their clips spent and barrels still smoking. "This isn't going to work. I have to get closer." He poked his head around the corner and couldn't see the targets.

>CmdCtr: Above you!

Shinji pulled back on the sticks, causing the Eva to back flip away from the blast wall just as the angels sliced it to ribbons.

**You like to think you're never wrong  
You have to act like you're someone  
You want someone to hurt like you  
You want to share what you've been through  
(You live what you've learned)**

Shinji rushed towards the targets, his eyes drifted to his right for a split second 'Five minutes left' he thought as his counter continued to tick down.

As he ran towards Beta, Alpha fired a stream of energy at the purple beast. Shinji quickly jumped forward, dodging the blast and tackling his target to the ground. He drew his fist back and punched it square in the face 'If you could call it that' he thought as he drew his fist back again.

>CmdCtr: Behind you!

Shinji quickly kicked his feet up flipping forwards off the angel just as another stream of energy arced his way, striking Beta as the target had moved.

**You love the things I say I'll do  
The way I'll hurt myself again just to get back at you  
You take away when I give in  
My life, my pride is broken**

As Beta stood and moved to stand beside Alpha it was obvious to Shinji that things were going to be harder than he had originally thought.

"Please, help me do this!" he screamed as he pushed the Evangelion forward into the fray once again. This time, instead of targeting one or the other, his target was to get right between the two of them. He dodged stream after stream of energy as he advanced towards them.

>CmdCtr: Shinji 4:00 Left!

"Yeah, I know!" he shouted back.

**You like to think you're never wrong  
(You like to think you're never wrong)  
You have to act like you're someone  
(You have to act like you're someone)  
You want someone to hurt like you  
(You want someone to hurt like you)  
You want to share what you've been through  
You live what you've learned**

Shinji now stood between Alpha and Beta. Each of them took turns slashing at their new punching bag, but to Shinji's credit, they missed with every swipe.

To close to use their energy, but two fast to hit, they were both starting to get annoyed. Shinji was doing his best considering the current situation. Short jabs were all he could seem to manage, but never enough to damage the cores at the same time.

**Yo, yo  
Forfeit the game  
Before somebody else  
Takes you out of the frame  
Puts your name to shame  
Cover up your face  
You can't run the race  
The pace is too fast  
You just won't last**

Alpha and Beta performed simultaneous round house kicks, Shinji brought his arms up to block it, but the force behind the kicks sent him flying into a nearby mountain.

>CmdCtr: Drop battery packs. Only slowing you down.

"Yeah, now you tell me" he said as he reached forward and pulled a lever.

A loud grinding was heard as the battery packs slid off the shoulder pylons. Shinji gave a satisfied sound as he began to flex. The new found speed was enough to allow him back into the fight without giving the angel's a huge chance to defend.

**Forfeit the game  
Before somebody else  
Takes you out of the frame  
Puts your name to shame  
Cover up your face  
You can't run the race  
The pace is too fast  
You just won't last**

As Shinji rushed back towards the angels he saw them start to fuse together again, and in that instant he saw the cores.

Shinji grinned as he gave a shrug and both shoulder hatches opened, revealing identical progressive knifes. He reached back and grabbed one in each hand and forced the Eva to move faster. With a sudden burst of speed that allowed the massive giant to move faster than ever before, he was on top of the angel in what seemed like a split-second. He drove both knifes deep into the cores causing sparks to shoot wildly out of them. He continued to keep his speed up, forcing the angels up and into the hills surrounding the city.

**You like to think you're never wrong  
You have to act like you're someone  
You want someone to hurt like you  
You want to share what you've been through  
You like to think you're never wrong  
You have to act like you're someone  
You want someone to hurt like you  
You want to share what you've been through  
You live what you've learned  
**

There was an explosion that rivaled even the N2 mines that were dropped less then two weeks ago. Causing many windows in Tokyo to shatter and rain down like diamonds of death.

At ground zero of the explosion, Evangelion Unit-01 kneeled down on one knee and was leaning forward. Its battery having hit zero just seconds after the explosion. Shinji had pulled the emergency eject handle and was currently sitting on the left shoulder of his Eva with a smile on his face.

He looked over at the behemoth's face and even though the power was exhausted, its eyes stayed lit. "Thank you for your help." He said as he patted the armor beneath him. With one last sound similar to that of a grunt, the eyes of the Eva faded and the guardian returned to its slumber.

Shinji sat back in the jeep on the way back into HQ with a content smile on his face. He had reattached the earphones back into his mp5 player and was continuing to listen to his play list.

Misato was the first to great him as the jeep pulled into the parking structure. She grabbed him in a huge bear hug that left him breathless. He struggled to break free and get the oxygen his body was demanding of him.

"That was terrific Shinji, I was so impressed!" she stated after letting go of him.

Shinji just nodded his head and continued in his attempt to catch his breath. They headed back towards the hospital wing to visit Asuka. As they got closer Shinji spoke up "Is it alright if I see her alone?"

Misato looked at him evilly "Don't be doing anything nasty in there now."

Shinji just rolled his eyes and knocked on the door before entering.

Asuka's face lit up as he entered the room "Hi Shinji!" she said.

He could see she was still upset about not being able to participate, but he could also tell she was genuinely happy to see him.

"Guess everything went well?" she asked.

He smiled and nodded "Yeah, but it was a little hairy there for a minute." he walked over to her bed and took a seat in the chair next to it.

"I heard everything; they had a live feed in here for me. Are you ok?" she asked "You look paler than usual."

He chuckled a little and laid his head down on her bed. "Mmm I'm ok know, just tired... and now that you're safe, I think I can rest."

Asuka smiled as she slowly stroked his hair. "Ya know Shinji... I've been doing some thinking lately."

Shinji gave a slight "Mm?"

Asuka raised her head to look at the ceiling, "To tell you the truth, I've never felt this way about anyone before... I don't know if it was the training, or how you rescued me or the fact that you took on two angels alone just to protect us all or maybe its some strange twist in reality... but... I think... I really li..." She stopped as she heard a slight snore come from Shinji's direction. "Hmm... I guess it will have to wait." She said with a smile. As Asuka lay down on the bed next to Shinji's head.


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, when I originally wrote this chapter I told my brother that it was actually planned to end after the angel. But the way that I left the last chapter, plus the new skills of the children, means that I couldn't leave it hanging like that, so I had to come up with more chapters... Some of them... not so good, filler chapters aren't something I like to read let alone write, but I'll do the best I can. If the chapters seem... off... just bear with it, good things come to those who tollerate crappy chapters!... and on to the chapter.**

Disclaimer in Ch 1... that is all...

**7**

Several weeks had gone by with no angel attacks, and everyone was grateful and worried at the same time. Grateful for a chance to rest and recuperate some of the losses incurred at the hands of both Eva and Angel. Also worried at what the enemy was planning next, and if they could stop it when necessary.

Asuka's leg had healed well, and she walked with no limp. She never repeated what she said was going to tell Shinji in the hospital; she couldn't bring herself to do it. It just never seemed like the right moment for her to say something, so she continued to act as though it never happened. The children continued their martial arts training, more so out of interest than out of job requirement.

Shinji sat at his desk in class as he looked over the paper placed in front of him.

'Well, this was a waste of a tree' he thought as he slid the paper back into his satchel

'Like they'll let us out of the city for a field trip.' He glanced over at Asuka who sighed and laid the paper work back on her desk.

She turned her head and looked back at Shinji who smiled a little, trying to hide the fact that he was somewhat disappointed. She smiled and nodded back as she brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, then turned to face forward again.

"Alright students, make sure you get those permission slips back in before the trip next week." The teacher said as he took his seat and continued with the lecture.

At lunch Shinji grabbed both lunch boxes from his pack and tossed one at Asuka. Even though she wasn't looking at him when he threw it, she quickly put her hand up and caught the bento without so much as flinching.

As Shinji started to walk over to have lunch with her as he had been doing since she got back into class, Toji and Kensuke grabbed him under his arms and began to drag him out the door and up to the roof, bento still in hand.

"You realize I could probably drop both of you and still get back before lunch." He told his friends as they let the door close behind them.

Toji looked at Shinji with a raised eyebrow "Okay, we wanna know something, and we want the truth." he said.

Shinji looked at them like they had lost their minds.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

They looked at each other, and Kensuke kind of shrugged his shoulders "What do we mean? We mean you and the Demon Queen. What's gotten into you lately? Has she taken your soul or what?" Toji asked with a look of mock concern

Shinji burst into laughter as Toji finished his questioning. "Okay, so that's what this is all about, I see... No she hasn't taken my soul, when we were training for that last angel fight... I think our Sensei taught us something other than just martial arts." He shrugged a little as he continued "Then she got attacked and well... I couldn't just let them get away with that." He looked around the roof, looking for anyone else who might be around.

"Can I trust you two with something? And be forewarned, that if I find out this was repeated, you shall know true pain." he said with a look that shook Toji to the core.

"Y...Yeah man... you can trust us." Toji replied

Kensuke agreeing "Yeah, we won't say anything Shinji."

He looked them over then glanced around the roof top again before leaning in and whispering. "Okay, now listen carefully... "

Asuka sat in the classroom talking to Hikari and eating her lunch. She had seen Shinji hauled out by the goofballs. After several minutes and a very delicious lunch, she heard a pair of girl like screams come from the roof. '

Hmmm... Shinji must have said something to scare those two.' she thought to herself.

The two girls continued to talk about the last week Asuka had missed school. She was tired of the relentless questions she got about the attack, but even more tired of the questions about her and Shinji. Even after several weeks some people couldn't believe Shinji had done what he did, let alone who he did it for. Asuka on the other hand knew why he did it, he had told her that day before the angel attack.

Shinji walked back into the room a few minutes before the bell rang, and walked over to grab Asuka's' bento. She raised her head a little and mouthed a 'Thank you' as he turned.

Toji and Kensuke entered the room just as the bell was ringing, both of the glancing between Shinji and Asuka.

She caught this and was a little interested as to what got them to pay her any mind at all. It wasn't like she liked them, or that they liked her for that matter. As class began, she booted up her laptop and opened the messenger system.

After some reprogramming she opened a message to Shinji.

>Chat

>RedDeath: Hey, it's me, and don't worry, this is completely secure.

>Berzerker: Oh, hey, how's it going?

>RedDeath: shrugs not bad, what's going on with the goofballs? I heard them scream on the roof.

>Berzerker: ... Nothing, just them being them.

Asuka glanced over at Shinji and he seemed to be hiding something.

>RedDeath: Hmm... Is that so?

>Berzerker: yeah... yup... nothing unusual.

>RedDeath: ya know Shinji... you look a little warm over there, you sick or something?

>Berzerker: ... ummm... No...

>H4ck3DY00: AH HA!! THERE IS NO SYSTEM I CANNOT ACCESS!!!

>RedDeath: How the...

>Berzerker: Damn it Kensuke, get the hell out of here...

>H4ck3DY00: so... did you tell h...

Shinji quickly and skillfully threw his shoe at Kensuke, sending him sprawling to the floor temporarily knocked out. The teacher continued, not having noticed this.

>RedDeath: what was that about?

>Berzerker: Hmm... What was what about?

>RedDeath: The whole Kensuke, shoe throwing... ya know what... I don't think I want to know.

RedDeath has left the chat  
>Berzerker: Damn you Kensuke….

Berzerker has left the chat

Shinji closed his laptop and leaned back, noticing Asuka looking at him as he did so.

'Okay man, just stay calm, you avoided that one... damn it... now I have to try to get my shoe back.' he thought as he rested.

Asuka turned forward and put her head on her desk, and resumed the nap she had started before lunch.

School let out and the children all started to head for home. Shinji and Asuka started off toward the apartment when Asuka stopped him.

"Hey, about earlier... I'm..." She started, but he cut her off

"it's okay, it's just something that's... hmm how do I say this... " He thought for a moment "It's just not the right time to reveal it I guess... don't worry though, you'll find out soon" he told her with a smile.

She looked him over for a second and nodded, she knew he wouldn't lie to her or try to hide something if it was of truly great importance "Alright." They continued on their way home.

When Misato got home, late as usual, she was greeted by two rather down children.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she grabbed a beer from the fridge and went to sit down.

Both children looked at each other then Shinji spoke up

"We've got a class field trip coming up to go scuba diving in Okinawa, but we know that due to our roles as pilots we won't be allowed to go. Just kind of disappointing I guess." Shinji finished and Asuka nodded in confirmation.

Misato sat up having finished her drink and set the now empty can down "Hmm, well, you could always use the pool in the fitness area at HQ. I think its twenty or thirty feet deep. It's not the same, but it can't hurt" she told them

Asuka seemed to light up at the idea; Shinji just hung his head in defeat.

"What's the matter Shinji? Afraid of a little water?" Asuka teased him.

He stood up and walked off towards him room muttering.

Asuka looked at Misato with a hint of confusion.

"He doesn't know how to swim, his uncle never taught him I guess" Misato said with a shrug.

Asuka thought to herself for a minute 'Hmm, this could be a good chance to start my plan into motion.' Then she nodded and stood up "Could you reserve the whole pool area for us for next week then Misato?"

Misato looked at her with a raised eyebrow "Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. Any particular reason you have that look on your face though?" she asked.

Asuka blushed a little "What are you implying?"

Misato chuckled and waved her hand "Nothing, nothing..." she kept giggling, but didn't say anything more.

"You're such a child Misato" Asuka said as she turned and headed into her own room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright, after a few techincal difficulties, and a little head scratching I managed to get this chapter re-done. Again, I apologize now if the chapters seem... well I won't beat around the bush, just plain crappy... but all in good time. I also want to apologize for the... lack of converstaions in this one, though that is something that will happen from time to time, it won't always be this way I swear, but enough of my rambleings. Read, review and enjoy the show!**

Disclaimer in Ch1, though if there is a store like in this chap, I would probably bankrupt myself.

**8**

Shinji was currently being led, or dragged; down the street 'What the hell got into her this morning?' he thought as he half walked half ran down the street.

"Okay Asuka, you can let go of my hand now. Just slow down a little, would ya?" He said as he tried to keep from falling.

She slowed down a little and let go, "Alright, I just want to make sure we get there when they open."

Shinji rolled his eyes a bit and sighed "Where are we going anyways?" he asked as they made the last turn towards the Tokyo-3 Mall.

"I guess you'll find out when we get there, won't ya." She replied with a grin.

He was not going to be having fun and he knew it, but what could he do, at least he got to spend some alone time with Asuka. 'Yeah, that more than makes up for it' he thought as a smile came to his face.

As they entered the mall, Asuka walked over to one of the large maps displayed on the wall and started to look at the different stores. "Hmm." She said as she pointed to a store on the map "That's where we want to go."

Shinji walked up behind her and glanced at the name on the map. "Why are we going there?" He said with a small squeak of terror in his voice 'she might want me to... oh god...' he thought.

She looked at him with a smile across her face "Well, if we are going to use the NERV pool, then I need to get a new swimsuit, and I'm going to guess that you do too. Hmm?" She said, he looked at her and hung his head

"But Asuka, I...I don't know how to swim." he stated.

She smiled even more and lifted his head up "And that's why I'm going to teach you!" She said.

A new wave of terror never before known to him swept over his body. "Yo...your... going to d...do what?" he stuttered.

"I said I'm going to teach you how to swim, baka." she repeated as she grabbed him by his belt loop and started to drag him off into the depths of the mall.

All Shinji could think about know was having to wear a swimsuit in front of her, or more so that she would be wearing one in front of him. He quickly knocked that thought out of his mind before his body could react.

'I knew this was going to happen' Shinji thought as he stood in the women's dressing room waiting area. He was holding a pair of swim trunks that he liked and know stood waiting for Asuka to make up her mind on what she wanted. Shinji looked down at his watch; it had been nearly fifteen minutes since she walked into the changing room.

"Come on Asuka, it doesn't take that long to try them on, does it?" He asked impatiently.

"Hey, I got two I'm trying to decide on, and since I can't make up my mind, you're going to help me." She said from the other side of the curtain.

Shinji's ears perked up when he heard this but he quickly turned his back from the door as she opened it and walked out.

"Come on Shinji, you need to turn around so you can tell me what you think." She said with a slight pout in her voice.

He closed his eyes and turned around slowly, then began to crack his eyes open slightly. She was wearing a simple one piece red bathing suit, while snug; it was very good looking on her.

"Wow." he whispered as she smiled and somewhat modeled it for him. "You look very nice in that." He said

She giggled and went back into the changing room "Just wait till you see the next one." She said.

A few minutes later she came back out, this time in a very tight two piece bikini that left little to the imagination. It was a white and red striped outfit with a zipper on the front side of the top.

Shinji didn't realize it, but his jaw dropped as his brain shutdown from the overload. She started laughing and walked back into the changing room.

"Well, I think I know which one I want." She said as she changed back into her clothes.

They finished their shopping and decided to head to the food court before heading back home. Picking a burger joint they ordered their food and sat down, halfway through their lunch Shinji put his food down then leaned in towards Asuka.

She stopped and looked at him, his blue eye shone like pools, she found herself at a loss for action as he stared into her eyes. 'His eyes are just so beautiful.' she thought.

Shinji slowly reached out and wiped a bit of mustard from her cheek then wiped his finger with a napkin and went back to eating.

Asuka was stunned to say the least, and somewhat embarrassed that she let her mind get off track like that. She mentally shook her head to clear it and focus on what was happening around her.

After lunch, the two started to head out of the mall when Shinji saw a store that made him drop their bags.

Asuka looked back at him and was about to make a comment when she saw what appeared to be horror the likes of which was only caused by an angel attack. She ran to his side and followed his eyes to the target of his attention.

Several shops down the way there was a scaled down replica of Unit-01's head sitting above a doorway. She stared in disbelief as he slowly reclaimed his brain from whatever galaxy it had just been shot into.

He picked the bags up off the floor and gave Asuka a nudge. "Shall we go see what that's all about?" He asked her.

She nodded, for her brain had not allowed her speech to return as of yet.

They walked towards the store, half scared to death half intrigued, much like watching a train wreck.

As they stood in front of it there was a huge sign that hung over the door, each end of the sign held by the hands of the replica Eva that stared down at them. It read "Grand Opening of the Evangelion Store!" The children looked at each other and walked through the doors.

The store was larger than it appeared from the outside, and was divided into four areas, each one of them colored in accordance with their contents.

At the entrance to the shop was a set up with white shelves, white tile on the floors and soft white lights above. Each of the shelves held a vast array of Evangelion and NERV merchandise. Everything from hand towels to beach towels, lunch boxes to dinnerware. They each looked at each other in disbelief

"I guess this is how they pay for the upkeep, huh?" Shinji asked

Asuka could only nod as her brain failed to comprehend what she was actually seeing.

They continued through the store and wandered into the next section where the shelves were painted a soft sky blue color, with a navy blue tiling and the same soft white lights above, giving off a very open feel to the area. In this section all the shelves were adorned with models, figurines, board games and dolls of Rei Ayanami, and her Evangelion Unit-00.

This sent a shiver down both of the children's spines.

They quickly continued into the back of the store here the shelves were once again white with white tiles, but in this area the lights shown a bright red, giving the impression of being in an inferno. This did nothing to hinder Asuka's ego to say the least, for she could do nothing but start to gloat about all the cool toys that she was on.

Shinji just sighed and started toward the last part of the shop, knowing all to well what was in store for him. Similarly designed like the last area only with purple/black lights above, Unit-01 gave off an eerie glow under these lights. It caused Shinji to shiver as he quickly ducked his head down and headed for the door.

Unfortunately for Shinji, as a result of having his head down, he ran into a pack of students that chose not to go on the trip.

When he raised his head to apologize, one of the girls in the group let out a shriek and the other girls quickly followed.

He quickly covered his ears as Asuka ran from the back of the store to see what was going on. This caused the guys in the group to start drooling. The fan-girls in the group finally quieted down and the fan-boys stopped drooling enough to try to get some autographs, pleasing Asuka to no end, and causing Shinji to blush as he hadn't realized how popular he had become.

"Shinji, if you're not busy, would go on a date with me?" One of the girls asked, causing the other girls to spew the same questions upon him.

Asuka's temper started to rise as they pushed the issue, but she was surprised by his reply

"Sorry girls, but I'm not interested. There is someone else in my life right now." This drew many curious glances, and a few dagger-like stares toward Asuka, whom stood there with a confused look herself.

This look of confusion caused the other girls to question their original assumption, and they hung their heads in silent defeat before thanking them for the autographs and continued into the store.

As the two started to head back to the apartment, with bags in tow, Asuka would glance over at Shinji every few minutes or so, but would look away if she sensed that he was going to look over at her.

'Could... could he have really meant me?' she thought to herself 'Nah, couldn't have... could he?' she continued thinking.

He glanced over at her when she was looking forward 'Bet I know what she's thinking.' He though as he smiled to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright, hopefully the updates will be weekly... unless something comes up. As I look through the chapters to come, this is will be the last forced filler chapter for another 10 chapters, and yes, the action will be making a comeback... Also, I never cared for some of the Angels, let alone how they were destroyed, so in some cases, such as the magma diver, I used my powers of Creative Fuggling and made some of them kind of comedic... thats right folks, there some comedy around here /shifts through some paperwork/ somewhere around here... anyways, please enjoy.**

Disclaimer in Ch1, that is all.

**9**

Asuka walked out of the girls' locker room, where she would normally be changing into her plug suit. This time thought she wasn't wearing her plug suit, and she wasn't heading toward the cages. No, this time she was wearing the striped swimsuit that she picked up at the mall with Shinji, though she had a towel wrapped around her so she would not draw the attention of the many male employee's that NERV had.

She quickly made her way towards the recreational area, which thanks to Misato, had been reserved for Rei, Shinji and herself. As she entered the large swimming area she noticed Shinji sitting at a table with a notebook open in front of him. Rei was already in the pool swimming laps and didn't even seem to notice Asuka as she entered.

She made her way over to the table where Shinji was sitting and took notice that he had indeed worn his swim trunks like he said he would, though he also wore a plain white t-shirt.

Shinji looked up from his books with a smile "Bout time you got here, I thought maybe you changed your mind for a minute." He said jokingly.

She grinned and closed the book in front of him, "You wish Shinji." she said as she undid her towel and placed it on the lounge chair next to the table. "Alright, let's get in. We'll start in the shallow end." She said as she walked towards the zero depth entry of the pool.

Shinji got up from the table and followed her into the water. The whole time he was walking behind her he was mentally slapping himself for looking look at her in 'that' way. 'Maybe I really am a hentai' he thought to himself.

"Are you even listening to me?" she asked him once she realized he wasn't paying attention.

'Oh god! Did she notice?' he thought as he stuttered a response, "Oh…S…sorry. I was…. Distracted for a minute." He hoped she would believe his excuse.

Asuka smiled inwardly, knowing what had distracted him. 'Good, he's not such a boy after all.' She thought, "I was just going over some basic swimming techniques." She said as she made a dismissive hand wave about his lack of attention.

They moved deeper into the pool until they were chest deep. "Okay, we'll start with the easiest first, the dead man's float." Asuka said.

Shinji cringed a little "Why's it called that?" He asked with a little bit of worry.

"Cause it's usually how people who drown end up. Okay just lay down on your back." She proceeded to show him by example, she laid back and brought her feet up and floated gently in the water.

Shinji took this time to take in the site before him, her chest calmly rising and falling as she breathed, the water creeping up onto her stomach as she sank a little and it rolling off as she surfaced again.

He took a deep breath and dunked himself underwater, trying to force those images out of his mind after he realized exactly what might be 'poking' out of the water when he tried to practice floating. He quickly tried to imagine the worst image he could. 'Gendo in a Speedo, Gendo in a ...' urk he had to stop himself before he threw up under water, which wouldn't have been good for anyone. Suddenly a thought came to his mind, he needed air. He burst through the surface of the pool and drew in a huge gasp of air.

"What was that all about Shinji?" Asuka asked him as she stood in front of him.

Shinji coughed a bit as he caught his breath "Nothing….. nothing at all." he said coughing, hoping she would drop the subject, and she did.

"Okay, now it's your turn." She walked behind him and helped him as he leaned back and let the water carry his legs towards its surface. "Close your eyes." She told him, he glanced at her with a look of worry "Don't worry, I won't push you under." She reassured him. He did as she said and closed his eyes. "Now, I want you to exhale until you feel like your starting to sink, then take a breath in, very slowly. To fast and you might end up underwater on your own." She told him.

He spent the next several minutes attempting to stay a float but always seemed to sink more than he floated.

Asuka walked slowly beside him and placed a hand in the lower part of his back, causing him to flinch before relaxing again. She held his back up a bit more, trying to show him where his center of buoyancy should be while floating. It took him a little while, but he had managed to get the hang of floating.

"Good, now it's time to step it up a little." She said with a smile. She reached out and took him by the hand. "Come on, follow me." She said as she gently pulled him towards the deeper end of the pool.

They kept moving into deep water, unnerving Shinji. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Asuka nodded, "You're not always going to be where your feet can touch bottom, and you need to learn to tread water." She said as she started to kick gently, keeping her head above water. "You just need to kick your feet back and forth like a pair of scissors." She said as she slowly pulled him into the deeper end.

He finally took the last step off the bottom of the pool and began to kick his feet like instructed, but he must have done something wrong.

Asuka watched as Shinji's head quickly went underwater and with a quick tug pulled him back above the water line.

"Are you alright?" She asked as he spit out some water that shot up his nose.

"GAH! What the hell!" he shouted as he caught his breath.

"You weren't doing it fast enough. Alright, let's try this again, but this time kick your feet a little faster."

Shinji sighed a little as he began to kick his feet faster than before.

"And don't worry I'll always be close." She said in a comforting tone.

After several hours he had gotten used to treading water and had learned the more simple swimming strokes. Now he sat in the shallow end of the pool, letting the water lap up on him as he relaxed

"Who knew swimming could be so exhausting." He said as he watched Asuka start to walk towards him.

"Yeah, but you did well, I'm proud of you Shinji." She said.

Shinji blushed but was turning to get out of the pool, so she couldn't see it.

"So, you want to do this again?" She asked.

Shinji thought for a minute 'hmm... another chance to see you in that bikini?' he thought to himself, he grinned "Sure, sounds like fun."

As they started drying off the PA system kicked on.

"All pilots report to the locker room for suit up then to the bridge for an immediate mission briefing. Repeating..."

but the pool room was empty as the children had already taken off for the locker rooms to change.


	10. Chapter 10

**I got this one done a little early as an apology for the crappy last few chapters. Be forewarned that there is some comedy in this, as well as some waff later. Also, I know not everything that is said during the mission is the way it should be, but tough, heh, anyways... have fun reading, and I hope you Enjoy.**

Disclaimer in Ch1, additional Disclaimer as follows, I do not own the song used in this chapter, nor do I own the band, or the fishing joke used, all of them belong to thier legal owners. And since I don't own them and I don't make a profit on this, you won't get anything for suing:P

**10**

_Dear Diary,_

_The last few weeks have been... strange to say the least. Shinji and I... well I'm not sure what's going on with us, but at least we don't fight like we used to. Besides he is kind of cute, and he did save me from those guys. Plus, Hikari says she has it on good authority that he does like me. How she knows that... I don't think I want to know. Another thing, these freaking angels are getting more strange and stupid. For example, when I was teaching Shinji how to swim, we all got called for an angel deep inside of a volcano. Then we get told Rei can handle it. Would you believe she caught the damn thing on a diamond filament fishing line... with a corndog on the end of it... can you believe that?!? What's this world coming too? Oh, Shinji's calling for dinner I better go._

"I'll be right out." Asuka said as she closed her diary, and placed it back into its hiding spot in her closet.

As she walked towards the kitchen she started thinking 'Should I just ask him? But what if I'm wrong... what if I've been wrong this whole time... No, I just need to ask him and find out.'

Before she realized it she was in the kitchen and standing behind her usual spot at the kitchen table. She looked up and saw Shinji standing there with his back to her putting the finishing touch's on the dinner "Just us again tonight?" She asked

"Hmm... yeah, Misato had to take care of some paperwork about this last angel." Shinji said as he walked over and put a hot plate of food down in front of Asuka.

She pulled her chair out, sat down and was about to start eating when she stopped suddenly. "Hey Shinji? I have something I want to ask you." Asuka said just as Shinji sat down with a plate of his own.

He looked at her as if waiting for her to go ahead and ask her question.

Asuka took a deep breath "I need to know how you really feel about me. I don't mean as a friend either, I want to know if you really care about me."

Shinji looked at her for a minute, then put his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together and took a pose very similar to his fathers.

"Please don't do that." Asuka said as she cringed a little.

He looked down at himself and realized what he had done. "Oh, sorry." He said, she smiled a little and nodded.

Shinji put his head to the side for a second then straightened it again, looking Asuka straight in the eye. "Asuka, I've told you in the past how I felt about you, but that was coming from a friend..." he said,

Asuka started "Oh I s..."

He quickly cut her off. ".. And, given the chance, I would like to take you out on a date. If that is okay with you?" His face a little pink as he finished. Asuka looked at him with a bit of disbelief on her face.

Shinji took note of this and responded "I'm sorry, I shou..."

This time Asuka cut him off. "I would love to."

Shinji couldn't help but smile 'guess I should have asked her sooner' he thought to himself, while Asuka was thinking along the same lines.

Dinner went by with the children stealing glances at each other and giggling. Shinji got up and started to do dishes as was the routine, when Asuka came up beside him and started to help rinse and dry the dishes.

After dishes were done, and some leftovers were set for Misato, Shinji walked into his bedroom and grabbed a journal from his desk drawer and started writing.

_Dear Journal,_

_Well, I did it, I finally asked her out. Yeah, it's only taken me like three months, but I think it was worth it. I really do think things are going very well, she's been really nice to me since we took those martial arts classes, and I think part of it has to do with the fact that she feels like she owes me for saving her from those guys... but that's not true. Anyways, I'll have to remember to pick a place for us to go. On a side note (just because I feel this needs to be mentioned for it pure strangeness) we encountered the Ninth Angel, we wasted a whole lot of time getting to the surface cause someone cut all the power, and the damn thing was killed cause I stepped on it. How the hell was I to know it was the size of a daddy longlegs? Anyways, if everything goes well on the date… well, who knows?_

**A/N**: Okay... if you haven't heard Bill Engvall's Dork Fish, you probably won't get the corndog thing. The spider thing... well that's just fucking hilarious... and I never did like how that episode went... that thing was the biggest pussy out of all the angels.

Shinji woke up the next morning to the smell and sounds of breakfast being made.

His first instinct, having been honed by many morning of Misato's cooking, was to call the hazmat squad and grab the fire extinguisher he now keeps stored next to his bedroom door.

He stopped at the doorway into the kitchen and watched with a slight smirk as Asuka stood over the stove swearing quietly in German as the grease from the bacon once again popped and sizzled its way onto her arm.

After making a quick check that nothing was burning, and the food wasn't dissolving the cookware, Shinji quietly made his way back into his room, stashed the extinguisher back in its holder and crawled back into bed.

'If she's trying this hard to make it quietly, she must be willing to come and wake me for it, and I wouldn't want to disappoint her.' he thought to himself as he lay peacefully in bed.

Asuka slowly walked towards Shinji's room with a tray full of food in her hands. 'Thank god these doors don't latch, this would be harder than it already is.' she slowly opened the door using her foot and walked through, careful to not spill the tray.

"Shinji..." she whispered "...Wake up Shinji-kun, I heard you in the kitchen, you can't fool Me." she said, he smiled as he slowly sat up in bed.

"I thought you might have, but I wasn't sure." he told her as she placed the tray of food in front of him.

"Oh, come on Shinji, we both took the same classes, you know it's almost impossible for us to sneak up on each other." she said with a smile as she left to get her own tray.

As she started to return to his room to enjoy their breakfast together, the phone rang. Asuka put her tray down and answered it "Hello?" she said "Alright, I understand." As she hung up the phone she sighed 'Couldn't wait another hour could you damn it' she thought as she picked her tray up. "Shinji get dressed, Misato needs us at headquarters ASAP."

Shinji set his tray aside and jumped out of bed and threw on his steel toe work boots, jeans and a black t-shirt, all the while eating his breakfast like it was his last. As he took his now empty plate into the kitchen he couldn't help but notice how beautiful Asuka looked in the early morning light.

He was brought out of his trance by the sound of her voice, "Huh?" he asked.

"I said, did you even taste any of it?" she said, referring to his empty plate

"Oh, yeah, I just didn't want it to go to waste" he said with a smile as he put the plate in the sink. They bolted from the door after leaving penpen a quick breakfast and an apology for having to leave.

They made it to the Geofront in record time and hardly seemed winded by the jog.

"Guess we've gotten used to it." Shinji said with a grin

"I've always been used to it." Asuka said with a laugh.

"Attention all personnel, go to battle stations level 2. Repeat all personnel, go to battle stations level 2. Pilots report to locker rooms and suit up." boomed the loud speaker as they entered the gates. Shinji looked at Asuka and nodded as they once again took off to get to the locker rooms.

Ten minutes later all three pilots stood in the briefing room looking at satellite images of massive explosions in the ocean and on land.

"The angel is slowly learning how to adjust the drop rate of its mass, honing its ability to bomb its target from space." Ritsuko said as the slides continued, "Near as we can tell, it's dropping parts of itself, the explosions you are seeing carry the power of 10 N2 warheads. We suspect that it will drop itself directly onto Tokyo-3, though when and exactly where we cannot tell. This angel is completely cloaked to our computer tracking and we cannot maintain a visual with any of the satellites for long, its self-defense kicks in and destroys the satellite as though it were a tin can." She continued.

Misato stepped up "Given the large range this thing could be dropping into, the only option we have is to evacuate the entire city and deploy the Evangelions at these locations."

A map of Tokyo-3 came up and showed the Evangelions set up in a huge triangle pattern at the outskirts of the city.

"We will be able to track it to within one hundred thousand feet above the surface, then we will lose contact with it, and it will be up to you three to obtain a visual, negate its AT Field and destroy the core, this will render the explosive properties of the angel null, meaning it will be as low yield as a normal angel."

Shinji looked on carefully before he spoke, "Why this setup? How do we know this is its projected path?" he asked, and was not to thrilled with the answer

"Call it women's intuition, or gut instinct. I'm not going to lie to you; the situation is very grim, survival is almost impossible, if this thing actually makes contact with the ground, it could very well split continent in half."

Shinji slowly put his hand out to his side and was met with Asuka's, 'She must have the same feeling' he thought, they held hands throughout the remainder of the briefing.

Twenty minutes after the briefing, Misato stood with all three pilots outside the cages.

"You understand that NERV regulations require that you have a last will and testament on file, correct?" she asked, they all nodded "Have any of you written one?" she asked.

Rei answered first "If I die, that's okay, and I will simply be replaced."

Shinji spoke next "I don't plan on dying, so I don't need one either." He gave Asuka's hand a gentle squeeze

"Same here." Asuka said, returning the squeeze.

Misato stepped forward and offered a group hug to all the pilots, even Rei stepped into it. "Be careful out there, and return safely" she said "Now get to your Eva's we launch in five minutes."

Rei started for her Eva while Misato turned and headed back into the Command Center.

"Asuka, wait." Shinji said, grabbing her wrist as she turned to go. He pulled her in close wrapping his arms around her waist, she giggled a little then started to blush as she realized how close they were. Shinji raised her head with his finger. "I should have said something earlier." He said as he held her close "Asuka, I... I love you... I always have..."

She put a finger to his lips to hush him "I know Shinji-kun, and... I love you too... let's not make this the only time we tell each other." She said with a small smile.

He leaned in and gave her a kiss, one that seemed to last forever, but their moment was cut short as the PA system started barking

"Mission launch in three minutes. All pilots report to your Eva's for start up procedure." The two slowly parted and took off running to their respective Eva's.

Shinji opened a direct channel into the Command Center, "Misato, requesting permission to configure the communication syst..."

Misato cut him off, "Way ahead of you Shinji, see the switch next to the com power? Flip that and all incoming audio will be converted directly into text. Ritsuko got tired of typing the last time we set this up."

Shinji let out a laugh "Alright, thanks." Shinji reached over and flipped the switch as he was told and opened up a private com to Asuka. "Hey Asuka-Chan, this is a secure line, how you feeling?" a text window came up in the lower right corner of his HUD.

Unit-02: Alright I guess, just anxious to get this over with.

Shinji smiled "I know, but trust me, everything will be over with soon, I swear it."

Command Center: Alright everyone, get ready, we go in five, four, three, two... GO!

Shinji pressed play and slammed the control yolks forward taking off into a power sprint.

_Spaceman, I always wanted you to go into space, man (intergalactic Christ)  
__Spaceman, I always wanted you to go into space, man (intergalactic Christ)_

_Pungent smells, they consummate my home  
__Beyond the black horizon, trying to take control  
__See my girl, she shivers in her bones  
__The sun and zenith rising, trying to take us all_

Shinji was sprinting down the streets of Tokyo-3 like a beast on the hunt, thankfully the city had been evacuated hours beforehand.

On the other side of the city Asuka was jumping over one of the many canals that ran through the city, picking up speed as she landed, keeping one eye on her map, and the other to the sky above her.

Rei had just cleared a set of high voltage power lines and was slowed slightly as the impact of her landing caused a massive hole to form in the road below her.

_There's a fire between us, so where is your God?  
__There's a fire between us  
__I can't get off the carousel, I can't get off the carousel  
__I can't get off the carousel, I can't get off this world_

_The sickening taste  
__Homophobic jokes  
__Images of fascist votes  
__Beam me up, 'cause I can't breathe_

Shinji was running up the side of a hill heading out of town. As he reached the peak he jumped as though it were a long jump in school, clearing several hundred yards before landing and taking off into a sprint again.

Command Center: we've lost contact with the target, ETA thirty seconds until visual

"Roger." Shinji said as he watched the sky above.  
"Got it." Asuka said urging her Eva to move faster.  
"Understood." Came Rei's monotone reply.

_Spaceman, I always wanted you to go into space, man_

_I can't get off, I can't get off  
__I can't get off, I can't  
__I can't get off, I can't get off  
__I can't_

_It's time to terminate the great while world  
__Morbid fascinations, television takes control  
__Decimation, different races fall  
__Electronic information tampers with your soul_

_There's a fire between us, so where is your God?  
__There's a fire between us, I can't get off the carousel  
__I can't fall off this world_

Shinji spotted the target ten thousand yard ahead of him and falling fast, "Contact!, Coordinates x35 y59, ten thousand yards and closing."

Command Center: Confirmed Shinji, Asuka and Rei are inbound as well.

Shinji looked at his speed, and the distance 'SHIT! I'm not moving fast enough, I'll never get there in time. Come on, faster, faster, FASTER!' he thought to himself, suddenly Unit-01 began to pick up speed, and in the blink of an eye was nothing more than a blur streaking across the city.

The sonic boom caused by Unit-01's speed shattered every window on the outskirts of the city and set off earthquake detection devices several miles outside of the cities limits.

_The sickening taste  
__Homophobic jokes  
__Images of fascist votes  
__Beam me up, 'cause I can't breathe_

_Spaceman, I always wanted you to go into space, man (intergalactic Christ)  
__Spaceman, I always wanted you to go into space, man (intergalactic Christ)  
__Spaceman, Spaceman, Spaceman, Spaceman  
__Spaceman, Spaceman, Spaceman, Spaceman  
__Space  
__Space_

Shinji closed the distance between him and his target in no time flat, he realized he was going to fast and yanked on the yolks to get the behemoth to slowdown so he didn't over shoot his mark.

The massive feet of Unit-01 tore up several yards of land as it jammed them into the ground in an attempt to stop on time. As the beast came to a rest the pilot reacted as he had been trained, "AT Field deployed!" he shouted as he thought the Eva through putting it's arms at it's side palms closed and created an AT Field like none that any had seen before, the pressure from it destroyed many buildings near him, but he didn't care, as long as he could do his job and protect those that were important to him, he didn't care what the cost was.

As the angel closed in on him, he thrust his hand forward and the two AT Fields collided with such force that the Command Center itself shook. Shinji was doing all that he could, his AT Field was sufficiently keeping the angel from falling but the ground below him couldn't take all the pressure that was being forced upon it and it started to crack and give way. At one point he sank into the earth more that ten feet.

"DAMNIT!" he shouted

Unit-02: Hold on Shinji, I'm almost… What the hell!  
Command Center: Unit-02 seems to have tripped on something and imbedded itself in the ground. Rei pick up the slack.  
Unit-00: Confirmed visual on Unit-01 and Target. Wha…  
Command Center: Unit-00 is also down; something has frozen her systems completely. What the hell is going on around here?

Shinji knew backup wasn't coming, suddenly the ground gave out beneath him again and he fell another twenty feet. He realized that any more and he wouldn't be able to keep this thing off the ground.

"I don't think SO!" He screamed as torrents of wind began to blow all around his Eva and his AT Field began to grow and push against the angel, raising it into the air several feet.

Command Center: Shinji, are you ok? Your vitals are very erratic, and your sync ratio is climbing unbelievably.

"I'M FINE! I'M JUST NOT GOING TO LET THIS SON OF A BITCH TOUCH DOWN!" He screamed as he continued to focus harder and harder on increasing his AT Field. 'I'm not going to lose this now.' he thought as he looked up into the "eye" of the enemy, 'You will not accomplish your mission.' he thought to himself as he continued to push himself beyond his limits.

Suddenly everything started going dark and he tried to fight off the fatigue that quickly overcame his body, but could not fight it for long and passed out.

In the distance upon a mountain two figures stood and watched the final moments of the fight.

"So, this is the one you've been looking for?" asked the shorter figure.

The other nodded his head before speaking. "Yes, this is the one, there is no doubt about it know." After a moment the second figure spoke again, "Come, let's get ready for what's still to come." And like smoke in the wind they were gone in a wisp.


	11. Chapter 11

**For your reading pleasure I bring you the next chapter. Btw, just to let some of you know, this story has more cliff hangers than the Grand Canyon... and my brother bitched at me every time, so I'm use to it now. Anyways, this is the scheduled release for the next chapter, 10 was an apology release (as I said in the intro there.) so, read and review, and hope you like.**

Disclaimer in ch1, additional disclaimer, I do not own artist of the song, or the song it self, I DO however own the right to the two characters who show up later in the chapter.

**11**

Shinji slowly opened his eyes, thankful that it was dark out. He wasn't sure where he was or how long he had been out, the only thing he was sure of was that there was a great weight on his right arm, but he was still too exhausted to further investigate, so he simply closed his eyes and let his body continue to rest.

The sound of a door creaking open slowly woke Shinji from his restful slumber. Once again he slowly opened his eyes and found it to be light outside now, giving him a better view of the hospital room the he was currently residing in.

He glanced toward the door and the creator of the noise that awoke him and smiled as Misato slowly crept into the room. He was about to say something when she put her finger to her mouth to silence him.

She pointed towards his arm, he remembered it being weighed down, and saw a disheveled pile of red hair quietly snoring. Shinji smiled as Asuka continued to sleep, and once again looked towards Misato and whispered "how long have I been out?"

Misato looked at her watch and whispered back "Four days. You gave all of us quite a scare you know."

Shinji looked on in disbelief, 'Four days...what the hell happened...' he thought.

Misato sensed this and continued "You did manage to stop the angel from making contact with the ground Shinji, but we are not sure how. All we know for sure is that you forced your AT Field into something of a beam and pushed the angel back into space. After that..."

Shinji waved his hand to stop her and slowly wiggled his arm out from under Asuka without waking her. He slowly got out of bed and held onto Misato's arm and motioned for them to leave the room, they quietly walked out and headed for the cafeteria, being unconscious for four days tends to make one hungry, where they continued their talk.

"Okay, so I did stop it from landing?" Shinji said as he took a drink of orange juice.

Misato nodded and continued her story "As I was saying, after you forced the angel out of the atmosphere, your Eva simply shutdown. We didn't know what had happened, you should have had enough energy for another two minutes, but the batteries were completely drained. Asuka single handedly picked up Unit-01 and carried you to a retrieval elevator. Once we got your Eva back into the cage we force ejected the plug, where we found you unconscious. Asuka completely flipped out and had to be restrained, you know I think she has a thing for you." Misato said with a smirk.

Shinji just waved his hand and told her to continue "Well, other than that you've been sleeping for the last four days. Ritsuko said she couldn't figure out why you passed out, or why the Eva used the full battery in about half the time, or how you manipulated the AT Field like you do. I'll tell you one thing though, Asuka hasn't left your side expect to go to the locker room to get a quick shower and a change of clothes. Shinji... I think she really cares about you." Misato finished with a more serious tone that Shinji was used to.

He finished chewing his food before he spoke "Misato, I know she does, she told me that before we went on that mission, and I told her the same thing. That's why I couldn't let that angel land, but I have no idea how I pushed it, or why I passed out, I fought so long to stay awake, but the last thing I remember was a message from command, something about my vitals and my sync ratio, but after that I don't remember much." he finished and pushed his plate away, "Guess I should go wake up my sleeping beauty." He said after a minute with a slight chuckle.

"Are you going to be okay to go back alone?" Misato asked him, he nodded and stood up.

Shinji quietly opened the door to his room and walked in slowly, so as not to disturb the fiery haired goddess that continued to sleep next to his bed.

He carefully sat down on the bed and leaned over to her and gently brushed the hair out of her face. 'She really does look like an angel when she sleeps... the good kind at least...' he thought with a smile.

He leaned in further and softly kissed her forehead, causing her to stir in her sleep.

Asuka opened her eyes groggily 'Sleeping like this for four days has taken it's toll on my neck' she thought as she raised her head to meet the new day, and to her amazement, a conscious Shinji.

"Oh! You're awake!" She shrieked as she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him like she hadn't seen him in years.

"Yeah, I'm awake Asuka-Chan." He replied as he returned the hug.

"Oh god Shinji, I thought I lost you." she said in a tone that Shinji swore sounded like a quiet sob.

"Shhh, it's ok, I'm still here, and I'm fine" he said to comfort her.

She pulled away from him and smiled "Thank god, I couldn't stand it if I would have lost you so soon."

He smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, "Hey, where are my clothes?" He asked, wanting to get out of the hospital as soon as he could.

Asuka walked over to a duffle bag in the corner and pulled his clothes out, "Here ya go." She said as she handed them to him, he nodded and looked up at her,

"Oh, right... guess I should... go wait outside..." she said as she realized what he was waiting on and turned to leave the room.

Ten minutes later, a fully recovered Shinji Ikari walked out of his hospital room and started for home with Asuka's hand in his.

As they walked along the streets of the city, Asuka started leading them towards the park.

It was quiet for the two as they were the only ones in it, all the kids were in school, and most of the adults were working. Shinji smiled as they approached the exercise area where he was training the day she challenged him.

"Alright As-Chan, what's with bringing me out her?" He asked as he stopped and turned her around to face him.

She looked up at him with sadness in her eyes and again threw her arms around his neck and began to weep into his shoulder.

"Shhh, Asuka-Chan, it's alright." He told her as he held her and stroked her hair.

She fought back the tears and quietly spoke "You don't understand... You could have died... and I would have been left all alone... again... I... I can't take it..." she finished as she broke into tears again.

Shinji could only hold the girl as she soaked his shirt. "As-Chan... there's... something I need to tell you... come over here..." he said as he led her to a bench just off the side walk over looking the lake in the middle of the park."I... I'm not sure how I did what I did in the Eva... but I did it to make sure that nothing happened to you... I may have pushed myself beyond my limits... Believe me though, when I say that I will never leave you Asuka. I love you to much to let something happen to me. Something inside told me, while I was pushing that angel, that everything would be okay, and that as long as I pilot nothing bad will happen to me while I sit there... and I trusted that voice, and I came out just fine.. Please don't cry anymore Asuka, it pains me to see you sad." He told her as he stared into her tear filled eyes.

She quickly wiped the remaining tears and smiled "I should have known that nothing could beat my invincible Shin-kun" she said with a smile.

Shinji grinned as he stood up "Okay... I don't know about you, but I'm starving, wanna grab a bite to eat?" he asked as she stood next to him.

"Sure, there's a nice place right around the corner." she said as she started towards the exit when he suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him, spinning her in the process so that she faced him, and gave her a deep kiss, one so deep that both felt as though they had melted in each others arms.

They separated a moment later and smiled widely "I love you As-Chan" He said

"I love you to Shin-kun" she said as they started for the restaurant.

"Are you kidding me?" Shinji asked as they sat in peace and ate.

"Nope, apparently this angel was some kind of nano-virus that attacked the magi. Course, because they keep the anti-virus up-to-date it was snuffed out before the base was put into any danger." Asuka replied, informing him of some of the events he missed over the last four days.

"Well, I'll be damned." he said with a smile. He was happy to know that he hadn't missed too much in the last few days, at least nothing that would put Asuka in any kind of danger.

"Shinji... listen... I know you just got out of the hospital and stuff... but... I was wondering..." Asuka was having trouble getting her thoughts out and Shinji noticed this quickly.

"Just ask me Asuka." he said with a smile that made her blush slightly.

"Okay... would you like to spar again?" he looked at her and chuckled

"It's getting kind of late, how about tomorrow, that way we can use the NERV gym and gear."

She nodded in agreement, and mentally smiled, hoping it would be a very... physical... match.

After returning home from dinner, the children got started getting ready for bed.

Shinji walked into his room and lie down on his bed, put his SDAT on and started to get comfortable.

About half an hour later, he heard a soft knock on his door. He stopped his player and walked over to the door. When he opened the door he was surprised to see Asuka stand on the other side in her normal evening wear of a large oversized shirt and shorts.

"You okay?" he asked her as she kept her head hung low, she simply stepped forward and held him in a simple embrace. "Don't want to sleep alone huh?" he asked her, she simply nodded into his chest.

He smiled as he rubbed her back and held her. They walked over to his bed where he got in first, closest to the wall, and she crawled in next to him.

As he lay on his back, she rolled onto her side, facing him, and put her head on his shoulder and placed her arm across his chest.

Shinji looked down at her and watched as she slowly slipped into a peaceful sleep. He had a small smile on his face as he closed his eyes and soon fell into his own peaceful sleep

_Shinji looked around and saw only black, and heard nothing. _

_"Where am I?" he asked to the shadows "What is this place?" he said as he continued looking around. "_

_You are in your own mind." boomed a voice from no where and everywhere at the same time. _

_Shinji started spinning around, hoping to find the source of the voice. A light clicked on and several feet from him stood a mirror image of himself, with its head hanging down. _

_"What do you want? Why am I here?" he asked himself, the copy cackled softly before looking up, its eyes were a bright crimson. _

_"You have awoken something deep within yourself, namely Me. You may call me second" it said. _

_Shinji looked at the red eyed clone with interest. "What are you talking about?" he asked. _

_Second snapped his fingers and suddenly they were standing on the shoulder of Unit-01, above it was the angel from space, both frozen in place. "In this moment of time, you called upon a power far greater than anything you could have realized." _

_Second snapped his fingers again and they were now in the entry plug. "You are now going to see what you missed." he said as he snapped his fingers a third time. _

_Shinji watched in amazement as time started back up around him, he saw himself holding the angel above him, and watched as he slipped into unconsciousness. _

_What he saw next shocked him, his eyes snapped back open, the same eerie crimson color that Second had, and watched as the battery timer started counting down to zero faster, and the angel being pushed further and further into the sky, until it was nothing more than a speck flying into deep space. _

_Everything was black again, save the light over Second. "Tell me how that happened. I have to know." he yelled, needing to know how to use this power to save those around him. _

_Second simply laughed and turned away. "You are not ready to control this power yet. One day though, you will access it, but the question is. Will you do it in time?" he said cackleing evilly and disappeared into the darkness. _

_"DAMN YOU!!! GET BACK HERE!!!" Shinji shouted._

Shinji's eye's snapped open; he was breathing hard, and sweating profusely.

He glanced around the room and found Asuka was missing, he looked at his clock and saw that it was nearly seven am.

He sat up on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands and tried to calm himself. 'What the hell was that all about?' he asked himself and he stood up. 'What kind of power was that, and can I really control it?' he continued as he walked to the restroom for his morning routine.

As he walked into the kitchen he was glad to see that Asuka had made him breakfast once again.

"Hi Shinji-kun. Grab a plate and eat up." she said in an unusually chipper voice.

"Sleep well I take it?" he asked as he sat down to breakfast.

"You know it." she said with a grin "I haven't slept that well in ... Well, let's just say it's been a while." she grabbed her own plate and sat down next to him.

Shinji sat and ate a little bit before he started thinking about his dream again.

Asuka saw that he wasn't acting like himself, "Are you okay Shin-kun? You've been playing with your food for the last five minutes."

Shinji looked up from his food and smiled weakly "Yeah, I'm alright, I guess... Kind of had a bad night."

Asuka looked a little worried when he told her this, "Are you okay? Do we need to see Dr. Akagi?"

He shook his head, "No, just had a... odd dream, that's all, I'm sure it will be alright... Are you ready for our little rematch today?" Shinji said, changing the subject.

She caught it but followed along anyways, "Yeah, time to see if you were just messing with me, or if I truly am better." she said with a smirk.

They finished their breakfast and headed out the door for headquarters.

Asuka and Shinji stood six feet apart from each other on the mat in the middle of the NERV gym, they were kind of surprised at the amount of people that were there working with different machines and training equipment.

"Must be a lot of Section two." Shinji said, noticing some of the people wearing nothing but black as their workout clothing.

Asuka nodded in agreement and took her fighting stance.

Shinji grinned and took up his own stance; they stood and faced off and circled each other for several minutes before Asuka rushed forward with a quick jab.

Shinji side stepped the jab and thrust his hand forward, shoving Asuka's arm away and causing her to go off balance.

She put her other hand on the mat and flipped forward landing on her feet.

Shinji grinned as he rushed at her, stopping a few feet from her as he placed a hand on her shoulder and flipped over her, twisting mid-flip, when he landed he swept his foot knocking her feet out from under her.

She hit the ground and rolled away before springing back to her feet.

"Are you going easy on me Ikari?" She asked as she brushed her shoulder off.

Shinji chuckled, "Can't fool you can I." he said as he readied himself again.

This time they both rushed each other, each throwing a right cross. Their fists collided and a loud boom could be heard from the impact. They pulled back again and began to rub their knuckles.

"Okay, that hurt a little." She said, and Shinji nodded in agreement.

A man in black clothes walked from one of the machines "Mr. Ikari." Shinji looked over at him as he walked towards Asuka.

"That's me." Shinji said.

The man walked closer "My name is Robbins, Joseph Robbins. I've been with section two for a while." He said as he extended his hand.

Shinji took it and shook, "You look a little young." he said as the examined the young man across from him.

Joe stood roughly 6' tall, with short spiky black hair and eerie green eyes.

Joe chuckled "Yeah, I get that a lot. Anyways, I was wondering if you would be interested in having a match with me, I would be honored to face off against you."

Shinji looked him over and looked over at Asuka

she shrugged "I'm going to rest, I think I hurt my hand a little." she said with a grin, she kissed his cheek and walked over to a chair and sat down, grabbing a towel out of her bag and wiping off her forehead.

Shinji looked back at Joe, "Sure, why not." he said with a nod.

Joe was excited; he had waited for this for some time. "Just so you know Mr..."

Shinji cut him off, "Please, call me Shinji."

Joe nodded "Shinji... that I tend to be a pusher... by that I mean, if I don't feel your giving it your all, I'll push you until you do... My brother and I used to have matches like this. It was a way for us to push to our limits and see what we could truly do."

Shinji nodded his head as he took his position on the mat. "Alright Joe, let's see what you can do." Shinji said,

"Oh, wait a sec." Joe walked over to a stereo that was set up next to the mat, after asking if anyone cared he put a CD in the player and hit play.

_Slow music starts _

"Alright, I want you to give me your all... I want to see what you can do." Joe said as he took his place on the mat.

_GET THE FUCK UP! C'MON!  
__GET THE FUCK UP! C'MON!  
__Yeah motherfucka comin' up behind you  
__Slap you in your fuckin' face and blind you_

Joe rushed forward and caught Shinji in the chest with a straight punch, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Come on! What the hell was that?" Joe said as he retook his place.

Shinji stood up, slightly annoyed that he was so easily caught off guard. "Alright, let's do this then." he said as dropped into his stance.

Once again Joe rushed forward with a straight jab to the chest, Shinji caught it with his left hand and brought his right fist across and connected with Joe's jaw. Joe's head snapped back, and stayed that way.

With a chuckle Joe brought his head down, "Now that's what I want to see." Joe brought his left foot up to Shinji's chest and kicked, sending the boy staggering backwards.

_Then maybe you'll learn not to FUCK WITH ME!  
__I don't want to see you  
__I don't want to feel you  
__I want you to learn not to FUCK WITH ME!_

Shinji quickly regained his balance and lunged forward, throwing quick jabs here and there.

Joe was easily dodging or blocking most of the attacks.

When Shinji made a misstep and was thrown off balance Joe took full advantage of it and kicked Shinji in the knee, dropping him to the mat.

"Come on Shinji, I've seen you fight, I know what your capable of. What's wrong? Don't think your good enough to beat me? Think you might hurt me just because you've had training? That all means jack dick! Now get to your feet."

Shinji was pissed, all the training he had been through and it was having no effect on this man.

He jumped up to his feet and once again rushed Joe, but where Joe was expecting punches, Shinji straight up head butted him, sending him sprawling to the ground, blood trickling from his nose.

_I'll break you down, I'll break you down  
__I'll break you... down...  
__DOOOOOWWWNN!!!_

"That's what I'm talking about!" Joe shouted as he stood up and wiped the blood from his nose.

He jumped in place for a minute and rushed Shinji once again.

Before Shinji knew what was going on, Joe was behind him, his arms held securely at his side, his legs immobile as well.

Joe leaned in close and whispered into his ear "maybe after I show that little girl of yours who's truly the better man, I'll take her out and show her a good time" Joe said with a chuckle.

Shinji had heard enough, Section 2 or not he wasn't about to let this continue. He brought his head back and slammed it into Joe's jaw, causing him to lose his grip.

As Joe staggered backwards, Shinji spun around in an attempted roundhouse; Joe brought his arm up and blocked the leg, then swept the other one out from under Shinji, causing him to hit the ground hard, his head bouncing off the mat.

_I'LL BREAK YOU DOWN, PUNK  
__DOWN, PUNK  
__DOWN  
__I'll break you down_

Joe frowned a little, 'That had to hurt.' He leaned over Shinji, then turned his head and yelled "Someone get the smelling salts!"

When he turned back, Shinji was awake, but something was different. His eyes... his eyes were a flaming crimson.

"Hell ye..." His sentence was cut short as Shinji thrust a fist forward catching Joe in the chest and sending him flying across the gym into a padded wall.

He hit the ground with a thud, and coughed as his breath came back.

"NO ONE WILL DARE MAKE A THREAT LIKE THAT AROUND ME!" Shinji shouted.

He took one step forward then literally flew, inches above the ground, across the room towards Joe.

Joe staggered to his feet as Shinji flew across the room. 'This is what I was hoping for' He thought as his target approached.

With a quick flex of his muscles the air around Joe whipped into a violent torrent of electricity and color.

"This is what I came here for... To see if what he said was true!" Joe rushed forward and the two quickly collided in the middle. Joe threw a right hook, Shinji threw a right, and when their knuckles connected in the center windows shattered within the room.

_Yeah I know that you didn't see me  
__Yeah I know that you didn't feel me  
__And now you've learned not to FUCK WITH ME_

Shinji jumped back and flexed his muscles, creating a torrent of energy much like that of Joe's.

"Let's see just what you can do." Joe said as he held out his palm, a bright sphere of light forming in the middle.

Shinji grinned and disappeared from Joe's view, he reappeared to Joe's left and grabbed his wrist and squeezed.

A loud pop was heard as Joe's wrist shattered "ARGH!!" he screamed and threw a right hook, catching Shinji in the jaw, but seemed to have no effect.

_I see you on your knees  
__And you're begging to me, pleadin'  
__And how you've learned not to FUCK WITH ME_

_I'll break you down, I'll break you down, I'll break you down... Punk...  
__I'll break you down, I'll break you down, I'll break you down... Punk..._

Joe jumped back and started laughing as he gripped his wrist. "You've done it now. I haven't used this in quite some time." he said as he separated his feet, "Now you'll see what I'm really made of!" he screamed, his hear spiking upwards and shifting colors. His eyes shifted to a bluish green and his muscles bulged. "Now we'll see if you can take me." He said smiling.

Shinji just grinned and threw a punch straight into Joe's stomach, only it felt like he had just punched a solid steel door, and his hand ached.

_RUN THE OTHER WAY!  
__NOTHING LEFT TO SAY!  
__COME ANOTHER DAY..._

Joe laughed out loud and picked Shinji up by his shoulders, "I told you I was a pusher, didn't I?" Shinji kicked at Joe's stomach, but he never even flinched.

"You will not touch her! Do you hear me! I swear I will kill you if you try!" Shinji shouted.

Joe held him tight and looked over at Asuka, who was standing in a silent stupor

"Asuka, would you please come over here?" Joe asked, Asuka slowly walked over to them.

"Shinji, look, Asuka is fine, I would never hurt her, I just wanted to see what you were capable of... calm down." Joe told him as he continued to fight.

Joe turned him around and lowered him to the ground.

Asuka ran up to him as he continued to fight against his restrainer. Asuka wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered "Please Shinji, calm down."

Shinji looked at her and saw the pain and sadness in her eyes, and stopped fighting.

Joe let him go and reverted back to his normal looking self. Shinji turned towards Joe again, this time his eyes were back to the normal.

"I want to thank you Joe..." He started "Thank you for helping me out."

Joe just smiled "Not a problem. That was actually the most fun I've had in a while. Maybe another time we can continue this?" he asked hopefully.

Shinji nodded "Yeah, I'd like that."

Suddenly the alarms went off and everyone was rushing here and there to their designated locations.

The children took off to the locker rooms, but as they were about to leave, Shinji turned to ask Joe something, but noticed that he was no where to be found.

Joe stood atop a sky scraper in the middle of town and watched as the newest angel, a large black orb with white stripes, drifted slowly across the sky.

"So... How was it?" A dark shadow asked from behind Joe.

"About as was expected, He has awoken, but he is unable to control it at this time." he replied back to the shadow.

"I see, does it have a trigger like the others?" the shadow inquired, Joe simply nodded,

"But I do not recommend that we use it. Forcing his hand by using his trigger might cause a major imbalance." Joe said as he turned to face the shadow "I do not see that we will be required to stay any longer, but I have to ask. How did you get into his dreams like that? How were you sure he was the one?"

The "shadow" walked into the light and revealed himself. He stood about 6'2", slightly taller than Joe, with short blonde hair, and eyes the color of hellfire.

"Hmmm call it... instinct." The figure said with a smirk, "Shall we watch the events unfold? Or did you have other plans?" The man asked.

Joe smiled evilly "I'd like to stick around and see how things go. If I'm not mistaken isn't this the one that ca…"

The taller man put a hand up to stop him. "Come now, you know we cannot discuss stuff like that in the open." He said.

Joe let out a small sigh, "Your know fun, you know that?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Alright, I probably should have pointed this out last chapter, but the crossover referenced in chapter 1 (I think) is coming up. Nothing major, no characters from other anime's or anything, just... actions... abilities... and the such. Now, on with the show!**

Disclaimer in chapter 1, no need for further information.

**12**

"I'm telling you Shinji, I've met all the Section 2 agents, and I've never met a Joe. Are you sure he was Section 2?" Misato was a little concerned that someone may have snuck into headquarters.

Shinji shrugged "Maybe I was mistaken. Anyways, what do we know about this angel?" he said trying to shrug off the thoughts of his fight with Joe.

Ritsuko pressed a button on the console and video footage of the sphere came up. "Roughly two hours ago the object seen showed up out of no where, it has been classified as the 12th angel. In thirty minutes the Evangelions will deploy at insertion points Alpha, Gamma, and Omega. Proceed through the city and surround the sphere. After that we will see what happens." Once she was finished she headed towards the cages to get the units ready for launch.

"Ya know... I see a reoccurring theme here." Shinji said to Asuka,

"You too huh?" She replied "A lot of go here, do this, and wait." she continued.

Misato stepped up "Alright, for this mission, Shinji will be point, Asuka will provide backup, and Rei will..." Misato looked around, "Where is Rei? Has anyone seen her?" Shinji and Asuka looked around then shrugged.

Meanwhile else where NERV.

"Does she realize there is an angel attack?" One of the technicians said as he watched Rei.

Another technician shrugged his shoulders "Who knows, but I'm not going to stop her."

So Rei continued playing Dance Dance Revolution on extreme mode.

Misato sighed "Oh well, we should be alright with just you too."

Asuka and Shinji nodded and headed towards the locker rooms.

After slipping the plug suit on Shinji pressed the right cuff of his suit and it pressurized. As he stepped out of the locker room, Asuka was standing across the hall already suited up.

"Hey." he said,

"Hey, got a minute?" she asked.

He nodded and they walked down the hall into one of the unused briefing rooms.

"Whatcha want?" he asked as he pulled out a chair and sat down.

Asuka hung her head slightly, walked towards him and sat in his lap.

Shinji smiled and wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her on his lap.

She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and laid her head on his.

"Shinji-kun... I... I want you to be careful out there." She whispered, the sadness ever present.

"Oh Asu-chan, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine; I have the best backup I could ask for." He said with a smile, trying to cheer her up.

"Come here." He lifted her chin and gently kissed her lips. They held their kiss for mere moments before breaking away to stand up.

"Hmm, okay, let's head out, and trust me love, everything will be fine." Shinji said. Asuka nodded and started walking towards the cages, holding Shinji's hand in hers.

Shinji leaned in close to her as they reached the divider in the catwalk.

He whispered in her ear "Let's do that again when this is over." Then he kissed her cheek and headed towards his unit.

Misato had seen everything from the command center and wasn't about to let this go to waste.

Shinji no sooner got into the plug, got seated comfortably in the Throne of Souls, and got synchronized when Misato burst in on the com channel

"Oooh... What was that all about?" she said teasingly,

"Unit-01 going to text only." He announced as he flipped the switch that converted audio to text, then said "It's easier to ignore you this way." he said with a laugh.

Unit-02: What about me?

"I know hon, but trust me; this is easier than having to deal with her constant picking." Shinji said with a grin.

Command Center: Alright, you wanna be that way, get ready for launch.

Unit 01 and 02 sat at their launch locations, Unit 00 too was set at her location, as someone had finally pulled the plug on Rei's DanceDanceRevolution run.

The sphere continued to float ominously across the city, not showing any kind of activity what-so-ever.

Shinji looked at his controls and then back at his target, he was hiding with his back to one of the many armory towers in the city.

"Something doesn't seem right about this." He said to the others "I can't put my finger on it, but something is wrong."

Command Center: Any abnormal readings from your location Shinji? Something we might be missing?

Shinji double checked his readings once again

Unit-02: You know, I'm starting to get that same feeling Shin-kun.

Shinji was about to say something when the sphere stopped roughly two hundred meters away from him.

"Hmm, Target is now stationary, no further movement noticed." He reported, Asuka was sneaking around the building coming up right behind him.

Unit-02: What's the plan?

He sat and thought for a minute before speaking, "I'm going to put a couple of rounds into It." he said pulling the slide back on the giant pistol he held.

Shinji peeked around the corner and watched as the sphere just floated there, he slowly raised the pistol up and fired two rounds.

Before the first round got close to the sphere, it disappeared from sight and sensors.

Command Center: Target disappea... wait, BLUE SIGNAL CONFIRMED, IT'S RIGHT BELOW YOU!!!! The two units looked down and watched in horror as a huge black hole started spreading beneath them;

Shinji quickly grabbed his other pistol and opened fire with both barrels, with no affect.

Asuka brought her progressive axe downward only for it to get stuck in the black ink like it was fresh tar.

Rei even fired a few rounds from the pallet rifle, but too with little affect.

"ASUKA GET OUT!" Shinji yelled, but it was too late for both of them. The blackness continued to engulf them, until only their power cables were left sitting at the edge of the mass.

Ritsuko stood in the command center before our lord and bastard, GENDO!

"When we attempted to retrieve the Evangelions by retracting the cables, the only thing that came back was a frayed mass of wires, currently both Unit 01 and 02 are out of contact."

Gendo kept his standard bastard pose as she continued, "If both pilots went into limited activity mode, they should have roughly twelve hours of battery time." she ended,

he nodded and she turned to go back to work on a plan to remove the two valuable units from the latest threat to mankind.

Misato continued to watch the combat footage from before they lost contact with the children, watching for any sign of weakness that could help them.

White, white was all he saw, other than the massive red of Asuka's Evangelion that was before him, he reached out and grabbed her, and pulled her close. He reached out and flipped the text switch back to audio and spoke,

"Asuka, can you hear me?" he was a bit anxious when she didn't reply right away.

"I...I'm here Shin-kun, I...I'm... so scared..." she replied, the sounds of tears in her voice,

"It's okay, I have you, let's go to limited activation for a while, and reactivate in two hours, alright?" she nodded, evident in the unit nodding its head.

Just before shutting down, Unit 02 reached its arms out and wrapped them around Unit 01 waist. Then both went silent and waited.

"So, have you come up with a way to retrieve them yet?" Misato asked,

Ritsuko just shook her head, "Not with the limited power we have. If even one of the other Eva's were still with us, then maybe we could have had a chance, but with two down, and only Rei... She can't generate a strong enough AT Field for the mission we have to work, I'm sorry Misato. It doesn't look good." She drew a cigarette out of her pack and lit up.

Misato hung her head in defeat while Ritsuko looked back to the main screen, showing a gaping black hole in the middle of the city where the angel was currently sitting.

Shinji activated his Eva for what would be the last time. His power was almost gone, the LCL filters were starting to shut down, and the entry plug reeked horribly of blood.

A tear rolled down his cheek as he realized this could be it. "As...As-Chan... Are you up yet?" he asked, trying to hide the cracking in his voice.

"I'm here Shin-kun, but... this is it... isn't it... I'm going to guess your filters are shutting down as well?" she replied, fear creeping into her voice.

"Yeah, they are... I...I'm so sorry As-Chan... If only..."

she cut him off quickly "No... It's not your fault... we both knew this might happen... I... It's... just fate... cruel fate..."

Shinji smiled as another tear fell from his eye, "You know As-Chan... I love you... I love you so much... and I'm grateful that I got to spend the time I did with you."

Asuka smiled as tears fell from her eyes as well "I love you too, my baka-Shinji. I..."

Shinji looked down and saw that Unit 02's eye's no longer glowed, her power completely exhausted now.

Shinji glanced over as he saw the last few seconds of his power slip away, and with it his consciousness.

_Asuka looked around, but all she saw was darkness. _

_"Where in the hell am I now?" she asked of the darkness. _

_"You are inside yourself." replied a dark image from behind her. _

_"What the hell do you mean 'inside yourself'?" Asuka asked as she approached the dark silhouette. _

_"I mean you are inside your mind. Went to college and your still dumb as a box of rocks." the figure said. _

_"What!?" Asuka said as she grabbed the collar of the girl before her, but quickly let go when she saw her face, _

_"Y...Your... me..." the figure smiled, _

_"I am you, and you are Me." she giggled a little as Asuka stared in shock._

"_But... Your... eyes... they aren't the same." As she continued to stare at her mental self, she took notice that her eyes were a hazel color, not her normal shade of blue._

_"Do you love him?" the figure asked, this threw Asuka for a loop. She wasn't expecting this question. _

_Asuka hung her head for a moment and blushed "I... I do... Very much..." _

_The other girl giggled "Even though he might leave you? And hurt you?" _

_Asuka flinched and she started to think "... Yes... Even though he might... I know better than that, I know he won't... but even if he did."_

_The dark figure smiled widely and started to fade, "Then... everything... will be... Alright..."_

_Asuka looked up and watched as the hazel eyed clone slowly dispersed into nothing._

Meanwhile...

_Shinji looked around and took notice that everything around him was like it was in his dream._

_So he began to call for his crimson eyed self to come from the darkness. _

_He heard a click and turned around to see Second standing in a beam of light. _

_"How pleasant of you to call for me. I want to thank you for letting me out for a bit as well, that was an interesting fight you had gotten yourself into back there."_

_Shinji nodded "Yeah, he was a lot stronger than I could have ever thought, but the weirdest part is that no one seems to know who he was."_

_Second just smiled "Oh... I know who he is, but that is of no importance. What is important is why you are here now." _

_Shinji nodded, quickly remembering his current situation. "How can we get out of this? We're trapped in some kind of strange dimension, our Eva's have no power and I refuse to let Asuka die like this." Shinji finished with a sigh and the anger rose within him as he mentioned Asuka's name._

_"You really do love her, don't you?" the shadow spoke._

_Shinji simply nodded. _

_"Even if she were to leave you?" _

_Shinji stood there for a moment, but nodded "Even if she did, she would still have a large space in my heart. It might hurt... but it will ease." _

_The shadow smiled, "You said before that you refused to let Asuka die here. What about yourself? Would you let yourself die here to save her?" _

_Shinji never even hesitated "Your damn right I would, if it meant that she would be safe for the rest of her life, I would easily give my life for hers." _

_The shadow smiled and nodded, "Then I shall give you the power you need to save her and yourself from this current situation, come closer." _

_Shinji walked towards the shadowy figure until he was close enough to touch him. _

_"You must make the right decisions from now on, what I am about to give you can help, but it can also hurt." _

_Shinji nodded sternly. The shadow reached his right hand out and placed it on Shinji's forehead. _

_Shinji felt a warm feeling spread through him, but it changed to pain, anger, hatred, feelings he had been suppressing for so long, they all flooded through him. _

_When he snapped his eyes open, they shone crimson and he let out an ear piercing scream._


	13. Chapter 13

**Alright, sorry for being a little late. My wife had a slight medical emergency and we spent the last couple of days in the hospital. Anyways, even though there are a few (glares around the room) that seem to dislike the current course of things, but such is life. For those who do like it, thank you for sticking around, hopefully you'll like it more as it goes.**

Disclaimer in Ch1, the only things I own are the two obviously non-NGE characters.

Two shadows floated high above the city and the angel.

"You know, people are going to start getting pissed if you keep this late posting crap up." Joe said.

"Bite me, life sucks and stuff happens. They will understand, they are very understanding people." The Man said.

"You trust people to much." Joe muttered as he hung his head.

"You only think that." The Man said before disappearing into the night.

**13**

Misato stared at the proposed plan of attack, "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

Ritsuko looked up from her paperwork "It's the only plan we have come up with that has the highest possibility of recovering the Evangelions."

Misato threw the clipboard down on the table of their makeshift office, "So the pilot's lives don't mean anything anymore? Is that the reason why we are going to drop all those mines into that ink stain out there?"

Ritsuko sighed heavily, she knew this was coming, but was hoping to avoid it. "Misato, it's been nearly 15 hours since Units 01 and 02 were absorbed by the angel, even under limited activity, they would have only had enough power for 14. They are dead Misato, we have to foc..."

A resounding slap was heard across the mobile HQ, the kind of slap that makes you think lighting just struck near your house.

Ritsuko held her cheek while she bent to pick her glasses up off the ground, "I'm sorry you don't want to hear that, but that's how it has to be, I am assuming command of the operation." she finished and walked away, leaving Misato standing the light of one of the flood lights, a tears silently coming down her face.

A technician walked up to Ritsuko with the latest readouts and e.t.a. of the bomber force. "Umm... Ma'am, may I ask a question?"

Ritsuko nodded her head as she flipped through the reports.

"Ummm... Is there a reason Unit 00 is fishing in the angel?" the tech asked.

Ritsuko raised an eye brow with an 'Hmm'. She went to one of the observation points and found that Rei was indeed 'fishing'.

Somehow she managed to get a hold of the diamond filament line, wrapped it tightly around a random telephone pole she found and was throwing the other end into the pool of black.

Ritsuko shrugged her shoulders and went back to work, thinking 'Like father, like daughter I guess.'

Elsewhere in the Geofront, Gendo sneezed as he was reeling in his line. Fuyutski walked up next to him, "Gendo, I wish you would quit fishing in the aquarium"

Misato looked over head as the bombers flew in, preparing to make their bombing run. "I'm so sorry, Shinji... Asuka... I wish I could have done something to help you."

Suddenly, the ground started to shake; lamps and spotlights were knocked over and shattered. People where knocked to the ground while others held steady.

Misato ran to where Ritsuko was standing at the edge of a lookout point. "What's going on?" Misato shouted over the commotion,

Ritsuko could only point towards the angel.

A massive crack started at the edge of the shadow, and quickly jagged in towards the center of the 'pond', where it splintered back out towards the edge in every direction.

The 'shadow' of the angel that was the sphere shimmered and turned black as something ripped out of its side.

The blood of the angel was spraying everywhere; the cleanup crews would be busy tonight. Another quake shook the ground and the winds became unbelievably strong.

The sphere, still bleeding from the hole in its side, began to expand and contort in ways still declared as unnatural in any dimension or reality.

Suddenly the sphere exploded outwards, clumps, blobs, chucks, and puddles of the angel spread across the city and into the outskirts. Floating in the middle of the whole explosion, Evangelion Unit 01, holding Unit 02 in its arms like it was the most precious thing in the world.

Slowly Unit 01 descended to the ground and walked towards a recovery lift big enough for both. It kneeled down and continued to hold Unit 02, even as it deactivated, and both units where recovered into the depths of NERV.

"What the hell was that all about?" Misato asked as they ran towards one of the access doors to the Geofront.

"I have no idea, there shouldn't have been any power left for anything like that." Ritsuko responded as they hit the button that would take them directly to the recovery cages.

"That... Was almost like the time Shinji caught that angel" Misato said as she thought about the look in Unit 01's eyes, "That was the only time I have ever seen them crimson like that."

Ritsuko nodded "Yes, but if that was the case, where did he get the energy from? Last time he depleted the reserve in half the time it should have taken... None of this is making sense..."

The door opened and they made their way towards the Evangelions, which were stored back to back with enough room for a catwalk between them.

"Eject the plugs, now!" Ritsuko yelled as they approached.

The heads on both units slid forward a bit and the protective armor slid down from the plug entrance. The plugs pulled out and discharged the LCL within. Techs walked over and opened the hatches on the plugs.

Misato ran to Asuka's first while Ritsuko ran to check out Shinji.

"Get me two stretchers, STAT!" Ritsuko yelled over her shoulder,

"Is he out cold too?" Misato yelled from across the catwalk.

Ritsuko pulled herself out of the plug and nodded, "His vitals are good, just asleep, kind of like last time."

Misato sighed and nodded "Guess we'll have to get them some rest before we can find out what happened."

Ritsuko stuck her head back into Shinji's plug one more time before coming out and quickly walking towards Asuka's plug.

Misato took a step back as the blond moved faster than she should have and leaned into Unit 02's plug. She came back out with an odd look on her face.

"Alright, get them into a room. Misato come with me please." Misato had a look of worry on her face as they walked away from the cages.

"What's going on?" Misato asked when they were out of ear shot.

"Their eyes... I can't explain it... but their eyes... aren't normal..." Ritsuko had a hard time getting the words out as she continued to walk with a blank expression on her face.

Misato stopped moving for a moment, "What do you mean 'aren't normal', what's wrong with them?"

Ritsuko stopped walking and turned to face Misato, "Shinji's... their... crimson... like his Evangelions was... like Rei's are..."

Misato looked dumbfounded "How... what about Asuka's?"

Ritsuko shook her head "Hazel, something happened and it actually changed the color of their eyes."

Misato couldn't believe it, "Has something like this ever happened?"

Ritsuko shook her head "It's not even possible, there is nothing in the plugs or LCL for that matter that could cause a change like this. It's a change on the genetic level, that's not even possible by today's scientific standards." Ritsuko started walking again, heading towards the room both pilots were placed into, "Fortunately, I'm the only doctor that has access to them, so we can keep a tight lid on this until I can figure out what happened."

Misato nodded as they opened the door and walked into the room.

Ritsuko checked the vitals of both children, and continued to monitor their eyes for any kind of change. She finally sent Misato home to get some sleep; the purple haired hen was starting to irritate the doctor.

As she was just about to walk out of the room, she heard a gasp and turned back towards the children.

Asuka was sitting up in her bed, looking around frantically.

"Asuka? Asuka are you ok?" Ritsuko walked back towards her as she caught her breath.

Asuka looked around and nodded "Yeah, I...I'm alright. What happened?" She looked to her left and saw Shinji still unconscious in his bed. "Is he alright?" Asuka asked as tears started to form in her eyes.

Ritsuko nodded and continued checking her vitals. "He's fine, just asleep, like last time." Ritsuko then proceeded to tell her what happened up to the point she woke up.

When she got to the point about the change in eye colors, Asuka seemed more interested than worried. "Hazel? My eyes are Hazel now?"

Ritsuko nodded and handed her a mirror. 'Just like... in my dream...' Asuka handed the mirror back. "Could... I ask a favor doctor?"

Ritsuko looked up from her paper work and nodded. "Could... You move me next to Shinji? Please?"

Ritsuko nodded and unlocked the bed, and rolled it next to Shinji's. Asuka reached over and grabbed Shinji's hand, giving it a squeeze. 'Please wake up soon.'

_Shinji looked around as once again darkness was upon him. "Okay... so... did we get out or not?"_

_the Second appeared "Of course, I'd be more surprised if you didn't." _

_Shinji looked surprised, more that he was still here, than with the fact that he succeeded in escaping. "So... why am I still asleep?"_

_The shadowy figured kind of shrugged "Guess I forgot to mention that using the level of energy you did, it kind of puts a strain on your body. Nothing serious mind you, just exhausting, you're probably asleep in a hospital room right now. Shinji suddenly felt a gentle squeezing pressure in his right hand. _

_"Hmm? What was that?" _

_The Second smiled "Even though you are asleep, you _can_ still feel some of the stuff that happens to your body. Apparently someone is squeezing your hand. Try to squeeze back." _

_Shinji did as he was told and was surprised to find that there was indeed some resistance, meaning someone's hand was wrapped in his. _

_"Now go... It's time for you to wake Shinji. But remember what I said about your new power. It can bring happiness, but it can also bring pain. You must be careful about how you use it." With that, the shadow disappeared into the darkness._

Shinji slowly opened his eyes, the room around him dark. He looked around and was happy to see the sleeping form of Asuka lying in her own bed next to his, her hand gently holding his own.

"Hmm... Guess everything is okay..." Shinji reached down and pressed the nurse call button.

Moments later Ritsuko walked into the room, Shinji held a finger to his lips to keep her quiet.

Ritsuko nodded and walked over and grabbed his chart. In a whispered tone

"How are you Shinji? Are you feeling ok?"

He nodded "How long was I out this time?" he asked her.

Ritsuko looked at her watch, "Only about twenty hours. Now Shinji, I have some... Interesting news... It's about your eyes, they've changed colors. Do you have any idea how that may have happened?"

Shinji thought for a moment, "What color are they?"

Ritsuko told him.

"Crimson? Hmm..." Shinji was as interested as Asuka had appeared earlier 'Just like him.' he thought.

He shook his head, "Sorry, no idea. What time is it?" Ritsuko looked at her watch again, "It's about six o'clock in the morning, I just got in when you pushed the button."

Shinji nodded with a smile,

"Excuse me Shinji, I have to go let Misato know that you're awake, I'm sure she will want to talk to you."

Shinji nodded again, and watched as she left, then he rolled over towards Asuka and kissed her on the forehead.

Asuka stirred a little then slowly opened her eyes and was shocked to see a pair of crimson red eyes staring back at her.

She jumped a little, until the whole of Shinji's face was within her view. Shinji too was surprised to see a pair of hazel eyes on the face of his love.

Asuka smiled widely and leapt at him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. "Oh Shinji... I thought we'd never be together again."

Shinji rubbed her back "its okay Asu-chan. everything will be alright."

Asuka pulled away with tears in her eyes, "I...I see your eye's changed too... Did... Did you have a dream as well?"

Shinji was slightly shocked; he didn't know it had happened to her as well. "Yeah... With a dark figure that looked like me... except his eyes... were like mine are now."

Asuka gasped and nodded "Mine too... She... She questioned my love for you... and what would happen if you left me." She began to cry again "You wouldn't leave me... Would you?"

Shinji pulled her into another gentle embrace, "Never my sweet Asuka. I will never leave you."

Ritsuko released them a short time later, since nothing more could be done. Misato took them home and was excited that everyone was relatively ok.

Fortunately for the children, Misato had to return to headquarters to finish up some paper work, something about requisition forms for new fish in the aquarium.

Shinji smiled happily as he picked up the phone and ordered out for dinner. After he hung up, he took his seat next to Asuka on the couch. He no sooner sat down and she snuggled up next to him, and he draped an arm over her shoulder and they watched their movie in peace.

About a half hour into the movie the doorbell rang, "I got it." Shinji said as he got up and head towards the door. As he opened it, he was surprised to see Joe standing on the other side of the door.

Looking a little... okay a lot the worse for wear, he held out the bag with the order in it, "That's five thousand yen." he said,

Shinji reached into his pocket, "I thought you said you were section two? Who are you really?"

Joe took the money and gave Shinji his change, which was hard to do with his other arm in a sling. "Well... Not really, but I see your doing well." He said motioning towards his eyes.

Shinji nodded "Hopefully I'll control it better than the last time we met."

Joe smiled and nodded. "Well, just becar..." He jumped back suddenly as a fist came out of no where and connected hard with the wall, the rest of the body soon followed through a portal.

A large man stood before the door, his back towards Shinji. "Come now Joe. We had this discussion, you can't do this." The man's leg was in a cast and his arm, too, appeared to be in a sling.

"Aw man. Come on, I was just making a quick delivery, can't yo..." Joe said before the figure cut him off. "That's not what I meant and you know it." The man said. The man lunged towards Joe who managed again to step back in time to avoid being hit.

The two quickly took flight from the walkway and disappeared into the night.

Shinji shook his head and closed the door. As he walked back into the kitchen he saw Asuka standing next to the cupboard getting plates out.

"You know that guy I spared with before the angel?" He asked her as she turned to put the plates down.

"Yeah... Joe was his name... right?"

Shinji nodded "He just delivered our food... then took off into the sky when this huge guy showed up... Strange guy's."

Asuka just looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"Oh well, let's eat." She said with a smile.

The two sat down in the living room with their food and continued to watch their movie in peace.

Meanwhile in the skies above Tokyo-3.

Joe floated silently, breathing heavily. "What the hell, couldn't let me warn him... could you, you punk bitch."

The figure from earlier floated several yards away, his short blonde hair fluttered in the breeze, his eyes glowing, catching his breath,

"Hey bitch, you almost broke the only rule I set down. Not to mention my leg." He shouted back.

Joe chuckled, "Of course I broke your leg. The punch to the balls was completely uncalled for."

The man shrugged "Maybe, but it felt good from here."

He laughed maniacally, and with one swift move, was standing behind Joe.

Grabbing Joe's shirt he spoke "Now we will take our leave from here. It is time to let this place continue along its path. Hopefully we will not have to intervene, but I cannot be completely sure as of yet."


	14. Chapter 14

**Alright, First off I'd like to again thank all those who wrote in telling me they wished to continue reading. It only took me an hour to get through all the emails and pm's btw. **

**Second, damn you raz for beating me to the punch. FYI "Jo" I have seen many a author post annoucements like that. Some saying that they were ending the story, others to say that there would be some kind of extended delay in posting's. **

**Third, to justanotherguyathiscomputer, I refuse to surrender to terrorists! heh**

**Okay, now that that's out of the way, I bring you REAL chapter 14... Hopefully it will continue to entertain people.**

Disclaimer still in ch1.

**14**

Misato walked in after a late night in her office. "Damn that Gendo, some of those fish were irreplaceable." She continued to grumble as she walked towards the fridge and grabbed a beer.

As she passed the living room she could hear the soft static of the TV and the dim glow from the tube. Figuring one of the children must have fallen asleep she slowly walked into the room.

She was surprised to find both children asleep on the couch.

Shinji was lying against the back of the couch, his head leaning to the right over the back. Asuka on the other hand was in a far more comfortable position, nestled in Shinji's side, with his left arm draped over her.

Misato could only smile while they slept, 'At least one of them will wake up refreshed.' She thought as she turned off the TV and left the room.

She decided that she would tease them about it later, right now all she wanted to do was finish her beer, go to bed, and hope to god that she didn't dream about fish.

_Amid the darkness, Asuka saw a bright light._

_"Are you there?" she asked into the darkness. _

_"Yes, I am always here." A reply from the darkness. _

_Asuka walked over to the light, and again found herself face to face with her mirror image, only this time she took note that the clones eyes, were her normal shade of blue. _

_"Okay, what's with the eye color? How did you switch them like that?" she asked. _

_The shadow smiled "I can't tell you that, my master gave me very specific instructions, he only told me to give you a hint. Hmm, what could I do?" it replied._

_Asuka was furious, "What do you mean your master? Someone is doing this to Shinji and me? What kind of a freak would take pleasure from this?" _

_The shadow chuckled at her comment. "A freak he may be, but he is very powerful, and if I upset him, we could both be in trouble." The shadow suddenly clapped her hands, generating a weak light as she pulled her palms apart._

_"What are you doing?" Asuka inquired as the shadow continued to clap, each time the light getting brighter. _

_"That is for us to know, and you to figure out." It grinned again as a large hand reached out of the darkness and touched her right shoulder. The girl turned her head as if listening._

_"Yes master, I am on my way." She said to the unheard voice, she then turned her head back to Asuka, "I must go, remember what I have shown you." _

_With one final clap a bright light temporarily blinded Asuka, when she opened her eyes again; she was alone in the dark._

Asuka slowly opened her eyes, taking in the light of the new day.

A deep inhale reminded her of where she had fallen asleep 'God he smells good.' she thought as she moved away from him to go to the bathroom.

As she walked away, Shinji slowly opened his eyes.

His neck was killing him, but he felt fading warmth from his side, letting him know that Asuka had recently woken.

He tried to straighten his neck to get a better look around the room, but quickly found out that it only sent a sharp pain through him. So he resigned himself to rest on the couch until Asuka returned.

As she walked down the hallway she could hear Shinji call out.

"Hey Asu-chan, could you do me a favor?" he asked as he continued to face the wall.

"Hmm? Whatcha need Shinji-kun?" she walked over to him and laid her head on the couch facing his.

"Could you crack my neck for me? I'm kind of stuck like this." He asked, pain evident in his voice.

She giggled and walked behind him, gently grabbing the sides of his neck.

"Alright, hold on." With a quick flex of her wrists, and a loud pop, Shinji's neck was stretched and pain-free.

"Oooh, that is so much better. Thanks hon." Shinji stood up and headed towards the kitchen "What do you want for breakfast?" he asked as he got out some pans.

"Whatever you feel like making. I'm going to step out on the patio for a few." Asuka said as she walked onto the patio while he started their breakfast.

As she stood on the balcony, over looking the city she helps to protect, Asuka couldn't help but recall the dream she had.

"What was that all about anyways?" She looked at the palms of her hands. "Nothing looks different."

She clapped her hands together and pulled them apart, but nothing happened.

"Hmm, I knew it... I'm crazy." She said with a sigh.

A cool breeze whipped up, forcing Asuka to wrap her arms around herself to keep the chill at bay.

As the wind died down Asuka placed her hands on the balcony and a bright light shown from beneath her hands.

She watched in a daze as the porch started to change around her.

Where the walls had once stopped at the edge of the balcony they now continued up and around, the light spreading and encompassing the room.

As the light died down she looked around and noticed that the room was no longer open to the outside.

Where the outer walls of the balcony stopped about three foot up, they now stretched all the way to the roof.

'Wait, roof?' she thought.

Sure enough there was now a roof over her head, with several skylights.

Asuka stood there looking around as Shinji came running into the room.

"What was that….. light…." He said as he took note of the rooms new appearance.

He looked at her with a face that screamed 'what the hell'.

"Asuka, what happened?" He asked her.

She looked at her hands, then back towards him, "I... I don't know..."

Shinji slowly walked over to her and gently grabbed her hand.

"All right, tell me what you do now." He said as they walked over to the patio chairs.

She told him all about her dream, about the girl clapping her hands and the bright light that followed.

"So I thought maybe that had something to do with my eyes. So I clapped them together, but nothing happened. Then a it got breezy and cool, and when the wind died down I leaned against the rail, thinking about how nice it would be if we had a sun room instead of that open air balcony. The next thing I knew the room was changing around me."

Shinji nodded his head at her story, not once did he make fun of it, or question anything she said.

'I'm more concerned about this shadow master, but that's for another time.' he thought.

"Let's try something." Shinji stood up and walked over towards the breakfast he was starting.

He poured milk into a bowl and set it in front of Asuka. "Okay, here's what I want you to do. Clap your hands again, this time, put them on the bowl, but imagine that its yogurt."

Asuka raised an eyebrow, as if questioning his sanity.

"Trust me." He said with a slight grin.

She nodded and clapped her hands again, the instant she touched the bowl, a bright light blinded him.

When the glowing stopped, the bowl of milk was now a bowl of plain yogurt.

"Try it." he said as he handed her a spoon.

She reached out and scooped herself a small bit of the strange mix and tasted it. "Mmm, just like plain yogurt."

Shinji smiled widely, "Well, I think we know what you can do now."

Asuka just smiled as she got up to add some fruit to her fresh breakfast.

As she sat back down a thought struck her. "But... What about you? What caused your eye's to change?"

Shinji smiled weakly, "Remember when I faced off against Joe in the gym?"

She nodded, remembering the fight well.

"I think I can still fight like that, maybe better, I haven't tried it yet. I'm afraid too, I don't want anyone hurt." He finished, sounding worried.

Shinji walked back to the stove and finished making his breakfast.

After breakfast, the children made their way towards school.

"Okay, so the story is that we are trying out non prescription contacts. Right?" Asuka said, making sure they got their story straight.

Shinji nodded as she talked. "And hopefully they will leave it at that and won't push it." he said, slightly concerned.

It was bad enough they couldn't talk about the Eva's in school, but this was beginning to push them.

Asuka reached out and took Shinji's hand in hers and continued to walk, they both just smiled.

When they got to the gates of the school Asuka attempted to let go of his hand, but he held tight.

When she looked at him he just smiled and said "We have nothing to hide, they won't say anything, and if they do. Well, they will regret it."

Asuka just smiled and nodded as they headed into school, holding hands for the first time.

As they entered the classroom there was a clamor of desks being moved, then dead silence. The two children could feel the eyes of all those in the classroom looking at their hands.

Shinji was the first to speak "Does anyone have a problem with this?" His voice so full of authority, that it scared Asuka a little.

'He is way to much like his father.' She thought.

No one said a thing and everyone shook their heads. Fortunately for him, Toji wasn't in class today.

"Good. If anyone does have an issue, I'll be in the yard at lunch, we can settle it there." Shinji then guided Asuka to her chair before going to his own.

As he opened his desktop the emails swarmed, everything from congratulations to hate mail to straight out death threats, all from the male population.

He looked over and saw Asuka was getting the same kind of response, though most likely from the females of the class.

Shinji slammed his laptop closed and stood up, the air around him starting to whip around as the energy within him surged with his anger.

"GOD DAMN YOU ALL! Why don't you just leave us alone?" He screamed as torrents of wind rose sharply, blowing paper all around him.

A growing sizzle could be heard, and then suddenly an arc of electricity flashed around him. Causing the students to leap from their seats and seek refuge against the walls.

Asuka stood up and started moving towards him.

"Shinji... calm down..." She said, worried about him loosing it like in the gym.

Shinji glared around the room, everyone was currently staring at him, and their eyes as wide as mouths.

"NO, I refuse to calm down. These little fuckers have annoyed me for the last time. So what if I'm dating the prettiest girl? I don't give a damn what these bastards think, but I will NOT allow the harassment to continue!" He said as the wind around him tossed desks out of his way.

Shinji was now floating several inches above the ground and the energy arcs and wind continued to grow.

Asuka continued to walk towards him, "Please Shinji, calm down."

She reached out and touched his hand in an attempt to calm her highly agitated boyfriend. "Don't!" he shouted as he jerked his hand away. "I will not stand down, not this time. Who here wants to end up like Techi, hmm? Any takers?" he asked of the crowd.

No one moved, Asuka once again tried to reach out and touch Shinji.

"Please Shinji-kun, please just calm down, your scaring me." Shinji looked down into Asuka's eyes and saw fear, plain and simple. "Scared? SCARED? You don't know what scared is yet!" He said as he drew back his fist.

Asuka could only stand there and watch as the fist flew towards her. She closed her eyes just before the impact, but was surprised when none came.

When she opened her eyes she saw that Joe was now standing in front of her. Shinji's fist was pressed hard against Joe's chest, but he didn't even move.

"Shinji, what's gotten into you?" He asked.

"I'm so sick of all this bullcrap… I've had enough and I'm drawing the line." Shinji said the energy still flowing from him.

"And you draw the line at hitting the one you love?" Joe asked simply.

Shinji's face was a blank slate for a moment before something in the back of his mind clicked.

"Wha…." Shinji said as the wind and energy slowed down and dissipated.

As he came back down to the floor his legs gave out, somewhat exhausted. Joe reached out and took him under the shoulder to support his weight.

"Alright, I think it's time we got you two out of here." Joe said as he motioned Asuka towards the door.

As they neared the door someone from the back of the room shouted "Fuckin freak."

Shinji suddenly whirled around and thrust his palm forward, sending a massive current of air out, throwing the offender hard against the wall, pinning him there. Shinji's eye glowed brightly before fading. As he dropped his hand to his side the student fell to the ground.

Asuka and Joe managed to get him out of the school without anymore issues.

A short time later Shinji was sitting in his room, Asuka sitting next to him, holding his hand.

"It will be okay Shinji, trust me." Asuka said comfortingly.

Shinji smiled weakly "I wish I could, but... I don't even know how to control what I have. How can you trust me? I mean, I lost it back there, I almost hit you, and that person could be severally hurt." He said. "If it hadn't been for Joe, I could have hurt you."

Asuka just squeezed his hand gently. "Shinji, do you trust me?"

Shinji stared into her eyes, and nodded "You know I do."

Asuka smiled "Then trust me when I tell you that we will figure this out."

Shinji sighed and nodded "I will, I promise."

The door opened and Misato walked in looking at the two. "Well at least the kid isn't going to press charges." She said trying to sound upbeat.

Shinji raised his head to look at her, "But?" he asked, knowing it was there.

"But, I am going to have you restricted from the school. I think you need time to relax. The last few angels have been rather tough on both of you, so I'm ordering that you two take the week off. Lounge around if you want, or go out and do something. Just try to relax." Misato said, trying to comfort her semi-adopted children.

Asuka smiled as she looked at Shinji, "See, I told you it would be okay, we'll just take some time for ourselves and everything will be ok."

Shinji smiled and nodded. So everything was set for their temporary vacation, Misato was heading out of town for something work related, and the children were going to have a nice quite time to themselves.

Something Asuka had been looking forward to since they admitted their lover for each other.

As night rolled around, Shinji and Asuka were sitting in the living room watching TV, both of them getting tired.

They had plans set for the next day and decided that they should start getting ready for bed.

Shinji turned off the lights and lay down on his bed. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door.

"Come on in Asuka." He said smiling.

Asuka opened the door and stood there with nothing more than her night shirt and pair of shorts on.

Shinji smiled "Want to sleep in here?" he asked.

She nodded and walked over to his bed where she crawled into it, got next to him, and cuddled up against his chest.

Shinji smiled as she got comfortable. Though neither of them really knew why, they had never had a bad night of sleep while the other was close.

Of course he had to fight off the thoughts that were going through his head as he felt her breast press into his side as she got closer.

'Think pure thoughts. Think pure thoug.. Think... I... wonder what those babies look li... damn it Ikari!' he thought as he closed his eyes and prayed for sleep to take him quickly.

Asuka, too, closed her eyes and let the sleep wash over her as she held onto the one thing that was more important than anything she had ever had before.

_Shinji found himself among the dark again. _

_"Hello?" he asked into the darkness, waiting for his mirror self to appear._

_Several minute later a thunderous boom echoed in his head and a voice was heard all around him. _

_"Ikari! You seem to have a problem. Is that correct?" It said._

_Shinji turned around in circles looking for the source of the voice._

_"You won't find me, Mr. Ikari." the voice boomed. _

_He finally stopped turning and picked a direction to face, "Yes, I am having a problem with the powers I have. I cannot seem to control myself when the rage takes over." _

_The voice made a knowing mumble, and then Shinji spoke again. "Are you the 'Master' that Asuka's mirror self talked about? Are you controlling all of this?" _

_The voice chuckled before he spoke "You could call me that, though I see myself as a master to none." _

_Shinji clenched his right fist, "So you're to blame for all that's gone wrong?" _

_The voice once again boomed loudly "Stop this! You are doing nothing to help the situation. I have come here for a cram session on how to control your powers, that is... if you want to control these powers." it said, as if questioning Shinji about it._

_Shinji hung his head, and thought for a minute. "Alright, teach me what I need to know to control these powers." _

_A massive smile formed in the darkness, "Good, let us begin." and for the rest of the night Shinji was mentally trained on how to control his powers and focus his anger and rage._

_All while the love of his life slept beside him._


	15. Chapter 15

Joe looked to his side, "You kno..." there was a thunder crack and Joe was seen flying into the distance.  
"Oh shut it" Kiaser said "Story first, explination later."

**Standard disclaimer as posted in Ch 1, if you haven't read it you've skipped way to many chapters.**

**15**

Shinji slowly opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He took note that Asuka was up, and he could smell something wonderful coming from the kitchen.

As he sat up on the edge of the bed, he recalled all the training the 'Master' had given him the night before.

He would have to make sure he could get to the gym to blow off some steam.

He grabbed a pair of blue jeans off the back of the chair and snatched a black shirt from off his desk, threw on his steel-toe combat boots and lastly grabbed a pair of sunglasses from off his desk.

As he walked into the kitchen he was pleased to see a tray of steaming food sitting on the table, with Asuka standing over another tray.

"Mmm smells good." He said as he walked towards her.

He looked down at the plate and felt his stomach jump into his throat.

"W...What are you trying to do? Kill me?" he just stared in disgust as he looked at the plate of uncooked and raw food.

The bacon sat limp and cold on one side of the plate. A shredded potato sat in the middle of the plate holding back a couple of runny eggs, and a slice of bread with a small pat of butter sitting on it.

"Oh hush, just watch this." Asuka brought her hand together and grabbed the plate.

Shinji was grateful he put his glasses on as the blinding light flooded the room, much like the previous time she used her power.

When the light died down Shinji looked at the plate again.

Now he saw crisp sizzling bacon, two perfectly fried eggs, a hearty helping of hash browns, and evenly toasted bread coated nicely with butter.

"Wow." he said as he kissed her cheek, "That's what I call service with a smile." He walked towards the table and took a seat. Asuka took the plate and set it down in front of him, then sat down across from him.

As she started eating, she finally had to ask. "What's with the glasses?"

Shinji tilted his head for a minute before responding, "I don't want people to freak out, especially after what happened yesterday."

Asuka nodded her head a little, "But I told you we would figure out how to control that. Besides, who the hell cares what others think anyways?"

Shinji chuckled "Yeah, about that control issue. I think I have it figured out."

This little piece of information peeked Asuka interest, "Oh, how so?" She asked.

Shinji proceeded to tell her about his dream, and how he spoke with, but never got to see the 'Master' she had heard about.

After breakfast, they set out to have a day of peace in the town, followed by a picnic in the Geofront and, if they were lucky, a quiet evening at home, on the couch, in each others arms.

After breakfast Asuka went to take a quick shower and change clothes before their big picnic.

Shinji stood in the kitchen and started packing something for lunch.

'Hmm, maybe just some sandwiches.' He thought as he rummaged through the cabinets.

As he continued to search, his mind began to drift back to his 'midnight' training session.

_(Flashback)_

_"You must learn to control your anger. You exploded in class like that is because you felt some sort of threat to someone or something." The voice spoke. Shinji sat and listened. "Your powers, if not controlled better, will burst out of you controlled. If Joe hadn't shown up when he did, you could have seriously hurt Asuka." The voice continued as Shinji hung his head. "You must realize that your power will become uncontrollable unless you two things. First, you must vent your frustrations through some means, no more holding back. Second, you must learn the difference a serious threat, and a minor annoyance. Until you can do that you are leaving it to you subconscious to make that decision." The voice finished. _

_(/Flashback)_

"Helloooo." Asuka said as she waved a hand in front of Shinji's face, "You in there?" she asked.

Shinji was slightly startled and stepped back out of reflex, causing Asuka to let out a small giggle.

"Are you alright? You seemed like you were zoned out pretty good." She said.

"Yeah, I'm alright. You caught me while I was thinking about last night." He replied, slightly embarrassed that he was caught off guard.

"Ah, well have you got everything packed?" She asked, not wanting to pry too much.

"Yeah, and I think I have the perfect place for us to go." He said with a grin.

"Oh yeah, and what makes this place so perfect?" She asked

"You'll see." He said as he grabbed the basket with their lunch in it. "You got all your stuff?" he asked.

"Yeah, all right here." She said as she patted the duffle bag she had slung over her shoulder.

Shinji nodded and stepped next to her and held her hand. "Alright, hold on tight."

Shinji grinned at her when she smiled. He closed his eyes and took a slow deep breath, before slowly exhaling it.

Asuka took note that there was a breeze starting to fill the apartment. She looked down at the ground and noticed that they were the source of the wind. She could see the carpet being forced outwards away from them. Just as she turned to ask Shinji what was going on, his eyes shot open and everything around them became a blur. Asuka closed her eyes when it started, not sure what was going on.

There was a strong breeze blowing, causing her hair to wave behind her. She could smell the salty air of the ocean, and she could hear the crashing of waves. As she opened her eyes, she was shocked to see they were now standing on a beach.

She looked towards Shinji with her mouth hanging wide open. Shinji just chuckled and reached over and raised her lower jaw up to meet her upper jaw and close her mouth.

"Don't want to get sea water in there do you?" He said with a smile.

"H….How…. Whe…?" She stuttered out, her brain not completely understanding what just happened.

"A little trick that I picked up last night, though I have to admit that even I didn't think that would work." Shinji said. "And for the where, well... since we didn't get to go to Okinawa with the rest of the class. I figured we would spend the day here." He finished with a smile.

She just stood shocked, still not able to take her eyes off the beautiful blue of the ocean before her. "But wait… what if were needed at…" She started.

Shinji raised his hand to stop her, "Fear not. I had Ritsuko check, and the phones will work here." He finished with a smile. "Plus, I figure this will give us both a chance to just relax, and work on practicing our powers."

Asuka nodded, "Yeah, I guess we could use some practice, especially you." She said sticking her tongue out jokingly.

"Yeah well, I'm about to go vent some of my stress. I'll be right back." He said as he set his bags on the ground and started to walk towards the lush forest behind them.

"You won't be gone long, right?" she asked, hoping to get in the water soon.

"Yeah, I'll only be a minute." He said as he disappeared in the foliage.

Asuka took a seat in the shade and soaked up the beautiful weather. After several minutes she heard a thunderous boom and what sounded like a tree falling.

She turned her head and watched as Shinji pulled a massive palm tree behind him. "Alright, here ya go." He said as he dropped the forty-foot tree to the ground.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" she asked, not sure what he had meant.

"Well, unless you want to change into your suit in front of me, you could probably make a changing shack or maybe a little gazebo for us to rest under. I'm sure you'll think of something." He said with a grin as he took a seat on the ground.

With a sigh she stood up and walked towards the fallen tree. "See how you are. Bring me all the way out here and you didn't even have a plan." She said with a slight grin.

She clapped her hands together and placed them on the ground, a giant circle of light shone brightly from the ground and everything with the circle started to shake and glow. For the briefest of moments everything seemed to melt away into the ground before several object began to rise from the sandy beach.

As the light faded away Shinji looked at the newly fashioned single room changing hut, made from what looked like nothing more than wet sand, and an attached gazebo with palm tree trunks for the supports, and the massive leaves of the tree as the roof with several sky-lights made from the sand itself.

"Very impressive, well, ladies first ya know." He said as he motioned towards the changing room.

Several hours of swimming and a nice tan later, the two sat on the beach in some chairs Asuka fashioned out of some brush along the tree line.

"So, did you have fun today?" Shinji asked as he raised his sunglasses to the top of his head.

Asuka smiled and nodded "Oh yeah, this was a blast." She said, and then turned towards Shinji. "Alright, now that the fun is almost over, I want to know what exactly happened to you last night."

Shinji sigh a little, he knew this conversation was going to come up, but he was hoping to postpone it a bit. "Well, shortly after we fell asleep I awoke in that place between deep sleep and full awareness. Once I realized that my other self wasn't there I started calling out." He sat up a bit looking out over the ocean. "I sort of met this 'Master' you heard about. Though I couldn't see him, he never revealed himself to me." He then turned towards her. "He taught me how to control my rage, so that what happened in school wouldn't happen again. I learned much about my powers, and myself." He said with a slight smile.

"So, does he have good intentions or is this some game to him?" She asked, slightly worried.

"Well, he does seem to be very honest. Though when I asked him why we were chosen to receive these powers he wouldn't answer me. He said it would disrupt the time line if he did." Shinji responded. "So, I'm guessing he gave us these powers to help us fight the Angels."

Asuka thought for a second before speaking, "Then does this mean you can use your full powers outside of the Eva, like I can?"

Shinji shook his head, "Unfortunately no, my powers require such a massive amount of energy that my body would probably explode. That's why I only have the strength and speed, the rest of it is too hazardous for me to use without the power of the Eva."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Shinji stood up. "Alright, I guess it's time we head back."

Asuka sighed and stood, "Well, it was fun while it lasted." She said with a grin. She walked over to her bag and headed back into the changing room.

Shinji just stared into the setting sun as more of the disturbing information from last nights session floated around his mind.

After a few minutes Asuka walked out of the shack and Shinji went in to change. Asuka walked back to the chairs, and with the same method she used to make them, broke them down into their base parts.

After Shinji was done changing she changed the shack and gazebo back into their base components as well. "Alright, guess we're ready." She said as she grabbed her bag and walked towards him.

Shinji put one arm around her waist and took a calming breath.

Asuka closed her eyes as the winds picked up again, and took note that the smell and sounds of their special day faded as the reappeared in the kitchen of their apartment.

Asuka leaned in and quickly gave Shinji a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush a bit. "Thank you for a wonderful day. Now I'm going to get a shower and was the saltwater out of my hair." She said as she turned and walked towards her room to get a spare change of clothes.

Shinji went into his room and dropped his bag off, then went back into the kitchen to fix a light snack.

Asuka walked out of her room with her clothes and stuck her head around the corner of the kitchen. "Ya know you should probably get a shower soon too. Wouldn't want that salt to eat away at your hair ya know." She said seductively with a wink before continuing towards the bathroom.

Shinji stood there for a second, his mind a slight jumble. _'Wait... did she mean…. No… maybe?...'_

Shinji stopped what he was doing and started towards the bathroom. The door was slightly cracked open, something she never did. His pulse was now racing and his mind was shutting down systematically. He could hear her in the shower, the water falling off her body hitting the shower floor. He could almost imagine what the scene behind this wooden door looked like.

He took a step forward and reached for the handle, when a song burst through the house. The song playing was _Danger Zone_, which in this case was _not_ a good thing.

Both children shouted in unison "Son of a …"

A/N: Alright, I do apologize for taking so damn long to get this out. I made the mistake of starting to edit this chapter shortely before thanksgiving... Yeah, again my bad. Then my brother flew home from Japan (he's in the navy.) and was home through xmas.. so that killed a month.. After the new year I started working on this again... but then I realized that I was going to have to rewrite the WHOLE damn chapter... cause what I originally had almost made me sick (I think I was in a hurry to get to the next chapter). Then about three weeks ago my grandfather passed away suddenly, and alot of this stuff took a major backseat.

But I'm back and I WILL finish... Thanks to those of you who have continued to comment and read. Peace out!


	16. Chapter 16

**See, I didn't forget about all you lovely people. Well, only about 9 chapters left (give or take). So please continue to R&R and enjoy!**

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

**16**

Shinji and Asuka were running down the surface streets of Tokyo-3, on their way to one of the many emergency entrances to NERV.

"What happened again?" Asuka shouted as they sped down the sidewalk.

"All they reported was there was an explosion at the activation site and that we need to get suited up and deployed ASAP." he shouted back "I hope Misato is alright."

"Why don't you just teleport like you did earlier?" Asuka said as the turned another corner.

"I don't want the whole base to know what I can do right now. They might refuse to let me pilot." He stated as they go to the entrance.

After a short emergency elevator trip later the two parted ways and headed towards the locker rooms to get suited up.

Asuka was standing in the locker room suiting up.

"Are you aware of the current situation?" Rei barely whispered.

"Just that there was an explosion at the test facility and that an angel coming." Asuka responded.

Rei nodded but felt it necessary to further inform her fellow pilot. "But the angel is the Evangelion they were testing."

Asuka stopped and her eyes went wide, "What do you mean the angel is an Eva. How the hell did that happen?" She almost shouted.

Rei shook her head, "I do not know that information."

Asuka slammed her locker then turned back towards Rei. "Wait, if it's an Eva, who's the pilot?" she asked.

"Student Suzahara." She said plainly.

Asuka was shocked speechless. "You mean that stooge was picked as the Fourth Child? He never said anything to Shinji." She said.

"I believe he did it on the sole agreement that his sister be transferred to the medical facilities here." Rei said

"But why didn't he tell Shinji? Of all..." Asuka said as she turned towards the locker room doors, intent on telling Shinji.

"I would not recommend telling Shinji about this. He may refuse to fight the angel knowing that he could be hurting his friend." Rei said flatly, causing Asuka to stop.

Asuka knew that if Shinji really knew who the pilot was he wouldn't fight, and that could cause some real problems for those who wanted to live.

"Alright, I won't tell him… yet." She said over her shoulder as she ran out of the room towards her Eva.

Asuka never got a chance to tell Shinji even if she wanted to; as they were quickly inserted into their Eva's and launched into position.

Rei took point several miles outside of the city. Asuka was a mile down the road from Unit Zero as backup, leaving Shinji just outside the city as the last resort.

"With Misato gone, who's gonna command this?" Shinji asked uneasily over the taccom.

"The Commander will." Rei stated.

Shinji looked over his shoulder 'Father'.

Deep in Central Dogma, the technicians were working frantically to get new information from the activation site, along with relaying information on the angel's current position.

"Contact, bearing 300, range one mile from Unit Zero." one of the techs shouted.

Gendo kept his hands closed in front of his face (A/N: Standard bastard pose). "Rei, do it!" he said as he watched the battle start.

Rei lined up her sights as the Eva/angel walked past targeting the entry plug as she had been ordered.

She pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. She pulled the trigger again, and again nothing happened.

Elsewhere in the city, "Did you have to steal those?" A figure in the shadows asked.

"Well... I didn't HAVE to... but this works out better." Replied figure in the shadows.

Back at the fight Bardiel quickly back flipped landing on top of Unit Zero.

He opened his mouth and began oozing a white fluid onto the arm of the Eva.

"Contamination detected, it's moving up the left arm. Contact with core in two seconds!" A tech shouted from her station.

"Eject the limb!" Gendo shouted.

"But sir, the conne..." started one tech.

"JUST DO IT!" he shouted over her.

Rei grabbed her arm in pain and screamed out as the arm of her Eva violently exploded and bounced across the ground.

Bardiel stood up and looked to his left where the now detached arm of his enemy lay on the ground several dozen yards away.

He began his march toward his mother once again, this time he would succeed where his brothers had failed.

Asuka now stood in the open plains between two high hills. The dirt in the valley was blowing around violently as the winds gusted around her. The sun in the distance was very bright as it set, Asuka was grateful that the Eva was able to filter the light out enough that she could see without squinting.

'_With my new powers, I can't fail... can I?_' She wasn't sure, but she knew that even if she failed Shinji would do what he had to.

Shinji stood at the power substation just outside the city; he could see Unit Two in the distance, though he did have to magnify the image. He knew that if it was required he could be there in an instant.

Asuka opened up a channel, "Shinji, the angel it's..."

Shinji cut her off, "I know it's an Eva. That means there is a pilot. I will not let any harm come to them, or to you if I can help it."

Asuka nodded and turned back to see the angel standing less than a mile from her.

"Alright you ugly son of a bitch, you'll release your 'hostage' and die." Asuka said as she gripped her controls.

Back at central command, Maya stared at her screen in disbelief. She would have to make sure Sempi got to see this.

Asuka's sync ratio was steadily climbing, as was Shinji's and he wasn't even near the combat area.

Unit Two slammed its massive hands together, quickly dropping to its knees and slamming them on the ground.

Massive arcs from an AT Field shot across the ground towards the angel.

Suddenly the ground beneath the angel opened up creating a massive hole beneath it, but what shocked Asuka was that the angel hovered in place.

The angel tilted it sadistic head to the right, as if studying it new target.

Asuka quickly attempted another attack, this time the arcs went around the angel, bringing the walls of the small valley together crushing Bardiel between them.

Asuka watched eagerly, hoping that it was enough to stop the angel, and allow her to retrieve the entry plug.

For a full minute nothing happened, no movement, no energy spike, nothing.

Asuka quickly ran and jumped to the top of the newly formed wall, and started digging in an attempt to find the plug.

She never even saw the attack coming, in an instant she was air borne, sailing through the sky into the side of a hill in the distance. The debris thrown into the sky from her impact blocked her view of the mound that held the angel.

She quickly stood up and looked back towards the block of earth, the hands of the angel sticking out.

"The damn thing got the jump on me." She said.

There was a bright flash and the mound of earth was obliterated as Bardiel expanded his AT Field.

Asuka rushed in, using her knowledge in an attempt to fuse the Angel's arms and legs to itself, immobilizing it.

But Bardiel would have none of that, just as she extended her hands forward, he grabbed her left wrist, and jumped upwards.

Using his ability of extreme flexibility, he wrapped his hand around both of her wrists, and bound them together, landing behind the Eva.

Bardiel yanked his arm back, drawing the arms of the Eva up over its head.

Asuka screamed in pain as angel continued to pull.

Shinji screamed through the com "Asuka!" but made no movement as she replied "I'm alright, I'll get him."

She attempted to sweep his leg out only to find out that he was actually a full body's length behind her. She was just about to do a back flip to relieve some of the pressure in her arms, when he suddenly reached out with his other arm and bound her legs together.

Unit One took a single step when Gendo spoke up "You will stand your ground pilot. That is a direct order."

Shinji grumbled but didn't move.

Asuka reached out with her right arm, as much as it hurt, and slammed the eject button.

Unit Two went silent and the neck plate slide open, revealing the entry plug. Unknown to Asuka at the time, the angel had forced the Eva into a position that when she ejected she was sent straight towards the angel.

Bardiel reached out and grabbed the quickly approaching projectile.

He held it up and stared at it for a minute, and just as he was about to crush the thin white tube in his hands, he was sailing through the air to slammed into the side of a mountain several small valley's away.

"REPORT!" Gendo shouted from this chair, now standing.

A tech nearby spoke first "Unit One covered the three miles between himself and the target, rescued the entry plug for Unit Two and at the same moment sent the angel flying several miles to the north with a single pun..."

Maya cut in, "Sir, Shinji's sync ratio is over 100 and climbing!"

Gendo looked to the screen and watched as Unit One walked over and set the tube containing the second child down near an access point.

Gendo grinned as he sat back down.

Meanwhile behind Shinji, two shadows stood high atop the power poles at the substation, "Is this what you wanted?" One figure asked.

The other nodded. "Yes, yes it is. Now go, you know your mission." The second figure turned and disappeared in puff of black smoke

"Now it's my turn to have some fun." Said the first figure, and with a grin disappeared in a similar puff of smoke.

Shinji had seen enough, he waited as long as he could, and refused to wait for orders to attack while his girlfriend was killed.

He would deal with it later, right now he had to rescue the pilot of the rogue Eva and destroy the angel which infested it.

Shinji raised his head, and found his target, it was still staggering to its feet, but Shinji would not give it the pleasure of completely recovering.

In a flash Shinji covered the distance to his target and again punched it, this time right in the jaw, sending Bardiel crashing into the mountain it had just stood up from.

Shinji stood back, this time allowing his opponent to stand.

Bardiel took its time standing, and seemed to growl when it finally stood erect.

Then of all the strange things that had happened so far in the war, the strangest was about to happen.

Bardiel moved its mouth, and words actually came forth. "Death is the only way out." He threw a punch with his right hand, but hit air as Shinji moved his unit out of the way of the attack.

_So withdrawn and feeling numb  
Watching life come all undone  
Growing fear, a human grace  
A drowning mind in a dark embrace_

Shinji continued to dodge attacks as Bardiel tried again and again to hit the new target. Shinji just laughed as the angel struggled to gain some kind of upper hand.

"You cannot defeat me. I AM DEATH INCARNATE!" Shinji shouted as he took up a power stance.

Suddenly his AT Field was completely visible to the naked eye, torrents of wind swirling around him, his anger and rage were at a level where he no longer cared what his orders were, he would destroy this god forsaken being and save those he cared about.

The winds continued to swirl, causing massive tornados to form from the air currents.

Bardiel continued his attacks, only to have this fists bounce off of the massive AT Field in front of him.

"Sir! Unit One's sync ratio is pushing 200, if this ke..."

Gendo cut in "He will be fine."

_My life  
A disarray  
And I  
Fade away_

Bardiel continued tirelessly to attack the being before him.

Shinji laughed as the anger burst forth, and on Bardiel's next punch, his right hand shattered against the field.

Shinji shoved the controls yolks forward, The Evangelion responded like a messenger of death and destruction.

Bardiel threw a left hook, only this time he wrapped it around the neck of Unit One. Bardiel cackled as he squeezed the life out of the enemy, or so he thought.

No one on the command deck could believe what they were seeing, but none of them could say it wasn't happening.

Unit One had shattered its mouth restraints and was cackling with the intensity of Satan himself.

_I am down on my knees  
Praying beyond belief  
The silence deafens my ears  
And welds the shackles  
Onto my fears_

Shinji flexed his right arm, and the whole of Bardiel's left arm simply dissolved into nothing.

Bardiel now staggered backwards, at a loss as to what he could do next.

He did not have the powers of recovery as some of his brothers had.

He looked on as his assailant stood fully erect once again.

Unit One moved its arms out to the side, shoulder height.

Abnormal sphere's of AT energy formed in Unit One's palms.

Shinji let the energy gather for a moment before slamming his hands together, joined at the wrist.

A massive stream of AT energy shot towards Bardiel, who put up his own AT Field, in an attempt to stop the attack.

It didn't work though as the blast pierced through the field after mere seconds.

_Lost All faith  
Lost All trust  
Lost All faith  
Lost All trust  
So withdrawn and feeling numb  
Watching life come all undone  
My life A disarray  
And I Fade away_

Bardiel shrieked in pain as his left leg was blown clear off at the hip.  
Being unbalanced, he fell hard into ground, with nothing to stop him.  
Shinji walked towards him slowly now, Bardiel threw a kick in a vain attempt to damage his foe. Shinji quickly caught the foot, and pulled until it tore completely out of the socket.

_I am down on my knees  
Praying beyond belief  
The silence deafens my ears  
And welds the shackles  
Onto my fears  
I have lost all faith  
I have lost all trust  
A sordid mesh turning to dust_

Shinji reached down and flipped the torso of Bardiel over, reached down and yanked the entry plug out of the back of its neck.

He carefully set it down in the forest next to him.

Then he rolled the angel onto its back again, He looked down upon his enemy with no compassion.

Bardiel spoke slowly as death came his way "Death...is the...only...way...ouuuuut..."

Shinji quickly brought his fist down and smashed the head of Unit Three, sending blood across the field they were in.

Shinji reached over and picked up the plug then headed back towards the emergency entrance where he laid Asuka's entry plug.

He set the plug down next to her's and reached out and grabbed a power cable, then hooked it up, not ready to leave just yet.

He watched with worry as two rescue teams reached the plugs, one for each plug.

Asuka was the first one out, she ran over to the other plug and looked up at Shinji, he could see worry on her face. She reached out and grabbed a communication device from one of the rescuers.

"Shinji, can you hear me?" She said.

Shinji let a tear fall, "Y...Yeah..." His voice shaky from the stress.

"It's okay, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong, you... You saved my life." She said.

The Eva nodded its head as the pilot sat still.

"Pilots life signs slow and erratic get him out." One of the techs said over the coms.

They opened the hatch and began to pull the pilot out.

"Shinji! Shinji!" Asuka was yelling at him, trying to get his attention, but he was too focused on who the pilot was.

The unconscious body of Toji Suzahara was pulled from the wreckage.

"SHINJI!" She yelled.

Shinji threw his head back and screamed, his Eva followed suit and howled at the top of its synthesized lungs.


	17. Chapter 17

**I am hoping to put out a chapter every other day, and seeing as how there are about 8 more the whole thing should be posted by next weekend (If I get a chapter done each day over the weekend.)**

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

**17**

Shinji was sitting on the throne of souls within unit one.

He was seething, never before had he been so enraged.

"Pilot, you will remove yourself from that mach..." Gendo spoke before Shinji cut him off.

He slammed his fist down on one of the yolks, "You can go and fuck yourself old man. I don't take orders from you anymore damn it. You were going to let Toji and Asuka both die, and for what?"

Gendo was getting irritated; he looked to Maya, "Increase the LCL pressure in the tube."

Maya looked back, "But sir..."

Gendo slammed his palms onto the table, "JUST DO IT!" he shouted.

Maya quickly typed commands into her terminal. "Sir, no good, Commands are being rejected from within the plug. Shinji is actually refusing the commands himself."

Shinji sat grinning evilly, "That's right, I'm in command right now, and I have more than enough time and power to destroy the majority of this facility."

Gendo looked to Maya who nodded weakly, "He has just over three minutes of battery time remaining."

Fuyutski stepped forward, "And with the powers he has demonstrated, I do not doubt he could do it Gendo."

Gendo nodded and reached a hand under his desk and pressed a button.

Several dozen guards ran passed Asuka on their way towards the cages.

"Where are they going?" she wondered as continued towards the locker rooms.

She had just come from the hospital wing, at Shinji's insistence of course, she also checked up on Toji, and even though she still felt awkward around him, she was glad he was going to make a full recovery.

She had just entered the locker room when the whole of the complex was rocked from deep within. Asuka started to pick herself up off the floor when another rumble tore through the building.

"What the... Oh no... SHINJI!" She tore out of the locker room and headed towards the cage holding unit one. 'God please let him be safe.'

As she neared the doorway to the cages when she saw that it was crumpled shut, and the whole wall around it was severally dented inward.

Several guards were on the ground, nursing wounds and muttering incoherently.

She continued her way towards the next door, on a different level of the cage. She ran through just as unit one swung its massive fist into another doorway, guards shouting and screaming as they jumped back through the doorway as the catwalk was slammed into the hatch.

"Shinji!!! Stop this!" she shouted as she ran towards him.

Unit one turned to face her, it threw its head back and let loose a howl that forced her to cover her ears to protect her hearing.

Finally, Unit One became still and moved itself back into its restraints.

Asuka ran towards the entry plug just as it spiraled out and opened up.

"Shinji, are you alright?" She asked as he slowly stepped out of the plug, his eye's glowing brighter than she had ever seen them.

"I will be." was all he said as he started walking, "I'm done with this shit, you hear that you bastard?" He said as he looked towards a camera that survived the beating the cage took, "I'm done with all of this; I will not be your puppet any longer."

With that, he turned and walked out the door, Asuka quickly chasing after him.

Gendo sat at his table 'This was not in the scenario.'

Asuka finally caught up with him, grabbed his arm and spun him around. "What do you mean you're done? Are you just going to leave me? Is that it?" She asked, fear creeping into her heart.

Shinji sighed as he reached out and grabbed her hand, "I'm not leaving you, Asuka. I will never leave you, but I WILL NOT pilot, ever again. I urge that you do the same, but I won't make you." Shinji told her as he held her hand in his. "I'm sorry, but I refuse to do this when our lives mean nothing anyways."

Asuka nodded, happy that he wouldn't leave, though afraid that she would have to pilot without him close.

"You should know... Toji's going to be okay, they say his wounds were very light, and it's all thanks to you." She said as they continued walking down the hallway hand in hand.

Shinji was resting on his bed, he had seen Toji, and was truly glad that he would be okay.

Toji thanked him over and over again for everything he had done to save him.

Kensuke had called once to give him lip about quitting, but other than that, everyone seemed okay with it.

Misato made a full recovery, and was currently working, filing his dismissal papers.

Asuka was a little worried that he wouldn't be there to back her up, but was grateful that he was still around.

Rei... Well, what else could she be? and Gendo... Lord and Bastard King Gendo, could give two shits less.

Shinji was okay with this though, he had learned a short time ago not to put a lot of faith in what others think of you.

He slowly got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen for breakfast.

As he sat down on the couch with his food, he noticed a particularly dark area on the wall to his right.

Considering the time, there shouldn't have been any shadows on that part of the wall. Suddenly a mouth appeared on the wall.

"Hello Shinji."

Shinji raised an eyebrow "That you master?" he asked.

"Of course it is. I see you have decided to leave your teammates to fend for themselves." the voice said with a tone of interest.

"How could I continue to fight when I know that our lives mean nothing to those in command?" he protested.

"That maybe, but look at the past fights, you have always managed to do what is right, and you always came out on top. Can you guarantee that Asuka will be able to do the same?"

Shinji thought for a minute, it was true that the last couple of fights may have seemed a lot more difficult than they should have been. He did always find a way to win though, but that was because he had Asuka to help him. Now with him gone could she truly fight at her peak?

"You must make up your mind, and soon. There is another coming; this one will push both of you to the limit. It may even break one of you. Go see her, before something happens to her." The mouth said before disappearing into the shadow, leaving the room as bright as it should have been.

Shinji nodded and ran to get dressed.

Asuka was currently sitting inside Unit Two for a sync test.

Her thoughts currently on her boyfriend, who though hadn't left her, had left her to pilot without him.

She knew what he must have gone through with the last fight. She had tried her hardest, but she just couldn't match the speed of that angel.

The next one, she would take it down with no problem, she would be the one to protect Shinji.

"Alright Asuka, you can get out know." Ritsuko said over the com.

'Thank god.' She thought as she ejected the plug, eager to get the LCL washed off and head home to Shinji.

She now stood under the hot water that poured out of the showerhead, taking with it the stink and stickiness of the crap she was immersed in.

"You almost done in there?" came a familiar though unexpected voice.

Asuka jumped a little then grinned, "Almost, why don't you come in here and help me wash my back?" She asked.

Shinji was standing outside the stall, back against the wall.

"Sure, why not." Shinji said as he shed his clothing and slowly entered the stall, his eyes closed.

"You know... it's going to be hard to clean me if you can't see me." She said seductively,

"I know." came his reply "But I didn't want you to think I was being perverted." He said with a grin.

He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with the site of Asuka facing the showerhead.

He drank in the sight before him, her flowing hair gently resting against her back, the definite muscle tone in calves, and how could he miss the beautiful roundness that was her butt.

'Not now Ikari, keep it clean.' He thought to himself as he walked forward and grabbed the washcloth she offered him over her shoulder.

"Just watch your hands mister." She said with a chuckle.

Shinji nodded and began to slowly wash / massage her shoulders and back.

She moaned a little as he continued his way south towards her backside. Asuka smiled a little as she reached back and grabbed his hands, stopping him from continuing. He raised an eyebrow as her hands gently gripped his wrists.

In a flash, she turned around and pressed herself into his chest, making sure that he was unable to see anything she didn't want him to.

She laid her head down on his shoulder, her arms now wrapped lightly around his neck. Shinji stood there his hands firmly on her hips, trying with all his might to ignore the fact that her breasts were now pressed firmly into his chest.

"You're going to have to tell me how you got in here without your access card." She said as she let the water beat down upon them.

Shinji grinned, "You remember how I can teleport myself where ever I want? Well, I figured I'd drop in to see how you were doing."

Asuka smiled into his shoulder, "I'm glad, I'm worried about you." she said, "What are you going to do now that you aren't a pilot?"

Shinji sighed a little as he leaned against her. "I don't know yet, but I told you before I wouldn't leave, and I meant it."

She sighed contently knowing that his words were true. "That's good."

Shinji lifted her head up with his finger under her chin, kissing her gently on the lips, slowly moving his free hand from her waist up her side to her back.

"ALL PILOTS REPORT TO THE CAGES, ANGEL INBOUND. REPEAT ALL PILOTS REPORT TO THE CAGES, ANGEL INBOUND."

Shinji sighed "God damn them."

Asuka whined a little as well, "How the hell do they know?" she asked, irritated at the interruption in her special moment.

Shinji quickly dressed and excused himself as he teleported outside of headquarters, not wanting to risk getting caught in the building, let alone the girl's locker room.

"17 layers of high density armor, evaporated in one blast!" one of the techs shouted out.

"The Angel is moving through the armor plating. ETA less than a minute before it breaches the outer layer of the Geofront!" another said continuously monitoring the angel movements.

Misato, arm in a sling and a bandage around her head shouted above them all. "Deploy Unit Two within the Geofront! If we can't face it on the surface, we will do so on our terms."

She turned to a weapons tech officer, "Deploy everything we have around Unit Two, I want her to have every weapon option she can get!" she barked, the tech took off to get things moved into place.

Asuka sat in her Eva, weapons lying in a semi circle around her, every piece of armament the facility held for the massive combatants.

"I will do this, I have to get back and finish what was started." She said confidently,

"What are you babbling about Asuka?" Misato asked, "Please tell me our only pilot is still sane."

Asuka chuckled and responded "Yeah, I'm still sane. Just in the middle of something when the angel decided to show up." She growled as the ceiling of the Geofront exploded downward nearly a mile from her.

The angel lowered it self elegantly into the Geofront, while being bombarded from every missile launcher on land, and the destroyers in the lake.

Asuka too was throwing everything she had, going through two full clips of pulse rifle ammunition.

She dropped them and grabbed the multi-launch rocket launchers. When the angel touched down, completely untouched, Asuka was furious.

"NO! I WILL NO..." She was cut off as the angel unraveled it's 'hands', and shot its right hand forward. Asuka was able to turn just in time as the thin strip of material whizzed passed her, slicing the barrel of her rifle clean through.

She dropped the rifle to the ground and back flipped several hundred yards.

"What the..." She didn't have time to finish as she saw the left arm flying at her. Unit Two clapped its massive palms together and dropped to the ground, raising a massive wall, two city blocks thick, in front of her.

Fortunately she was crouched down, because the wall didn't even slow down the attack.

Shinji stood in the open next to the lake, watching the attack go on. Of course, he was rooting for Asuka to win, but became concerned when the angels attacks seemed to over power her.

"You know, you should be out there helping her." Came a familiar voice from Shinji's left.

"Oh, Mr. Kaji, I didn't know you were here." He said surprised that the older man would be standing in a field during an angel attack.

"Well, since my true job has been revealed to those in power. There is little more I can do than stand here, and water my melons." He said as he gently shook his watering can. "You on the other hand, have something very special. You have the ability to make right the things that are going wrong."

Shinji looked at him for a moment before speaking, "But what good is it to fight for something right, if the wrong people are in command?" he said.

"That is a question you can only truly answer for yourself I'm afraid." Kaji replied.

They both turned back towards the combat as it became more heated.

Asuka was back on her feet, dodging left and right as the attacks came.

She had had enough of playing on the defensive side; she was going to take this fight offensively.

She rushed forward, continuing to dodge the attacks.

When she was about a hundred yards out she once again took the Eva through the routine of clapping.

When Unit Two brought it's massive palms down a huge section of the ground beneath the angel thrust upward, sending the massive beast slamming into the ceiling of the Geofront at well over two hundred miles an hour, the resulting boom shook the lighting system attached at the top of the dome.

Asuka was standing next to the column, out of breath. "That took a lot out of me." She said quietly as she tried to catch her breath.

She knew the fight wasn't over, but she was hoping she had bought some time.

She never saw it coming, no one could have.

Both of the razor sharp limbs of the angel shot down from the ceiling and severed Unit Two's arms at the shoulders.

Asuka screamed out in pain as she grabbed her shoulders, Shinji screamed as he saw her arms fall to the ground.

Unit Two looked up as an arm came flying down towards her head, Asuka quickly moved and barely dodged the attack, but misstepped and fell flat on her back.

"ASUKA!" Misato yelled.

Ritsuko turned to Maya, "Cut the nerve connections!" She shouted.

Asuka held her arms tight to her as the plug went dark, just as the head of Unit Two was cleanly severed from its body.

"Are you alright?" came a voice from within the plug, Asuka just nodded as she continued to hold her arms tightly.

Shinji wrapped his own arms around her, "its okay Asuka-Chan. You did good."

Asuka smiled but knew it didn't matter, "I'm so sorry Shinji, I'm not good at this." She said with tears in her eyes.

Shinji raised her face, "its okay. Everything will be okay. I need to go, but I will come back for you." In an instant Shinji was gone.

Gendo stood in the command room standing over Unit One. "Still no response, it won't accept the dummy plug." A tech said.

"LET ME PILOT IT!" came a shout from the catwalk. Gendo looked out the large window. "I'm the pilot, I will pilot it!" Shinji said, standing on the catwalk in front of Unit One.

Gendo nodded, and motioned for a tech to get the Eva ready.

The bridge crew stood on the command level deck, watching monitors trying to find out where the angel had gone after dispatching the only working Eva.

Suddenly all the power in facility died, emergency power supplies kicked in all over.

The main display in command started to crack and fell to the ground below as the angel crashed through the wall.

Everyone on the bridge looked on with fear, knowing this was the end. The angel began to charge an attack in its 'mouth' as Misato stared at it. There was a massive boom and spray of debris from the right as Unit One burst in from the cages just north of command.

The Eva caught the angel off guard with a massive right cross, cracking the armor plating on the angels face.

It grabbed the angel and pushed back out of the hole Unit One had just made.

Misato looked at the Eva like the savior it was, and she knew who it was piloting, "SHINJI!" She screamed.

Shinji was furious, "How dare you come into my home" He thrust the angel back into cages, "You attack and hurt MY girlfriend, threaten to destroy MY friends!"

Slamming it into the wall hard, he grabbed the angel by the face plate and threw it across the room into another wall leading to the launch pads.

The angel leaned up and fired a shot at Unit One.

Unit one watched as the shot closed in on him, Shinji screamed, the Eva following suit, the shear force of the scream sent the blast into the wall beside him.

The angel got back onto its feet, only to be met with a roundhouse to the chest, which sent it flying across the launch bay onto one of the pads.

Shinji was on it in an instant, pinning it against the wall, "MISATO!" he screamed.

"LAUCH!" She ordered.

Unit one and the angel were sent flying into the air, the angel's face grinding against the shaft on the way out.

They were both launched into the air of the Geofront as the hatch above them opened up.

Unit one landed on top of the angel, Shinji began to beat the hell out of the angel; a right hook cracked the mask even more. A left hook fell harmlessly against the angel as the batteries ran out of power.

Maya was sitting on the floor of the elevator, "Unit one is silent, internal batteries have run out." she said.

Ritsuko looked at Misato who just stared at the elevator panel as in counted off the floors.

Misato, Ritsuko, Maya and several bridge techs exited the elevator that led the out into the Geofront.

They got there just as the angel grabbed Unit One by the head and threw it hard into the pyramid that was headquarters.

The angel stood up, beaten and bloodied, but ready for some payback. It let loose with an energy attack that vaporized the armor on Unit One, and revealed its core.

Misato looked on in shock, "What is that?" Ritsuko just looked on in horror as the angel began to beat upon the core with its hands.

Shinji sat in the cockpit, jamming the controls forward and backward, "COME ON DAMN IT, MOVE, MOVE YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!" he yelled, "Move, please move, everyone is depending on me, all of this will be for nothing if I can't defend them!"

He heard the sound of dropping water, and a blinding light filled the entry plug.

Just as the angel brought it's deadly hand down upon the core once more, Unit One put it's hand up and sliced it's way through the angels own hand.

Unit One grabbed the ribbon, and yanked hard. The angel flew across the surface of the Geofront and slammed into the Eva, which growled into the angel's face.

It placed its right foot on the chest of the angel and kicked as hard as it could, sending the angel flying through the air slamming hard into the ground.

Unit One stood back up and howled angrily, torrents of wind and AT field energy swarmed around the Eva as it crouched down a little, hands at its side.

The Eva hunched forward, growling like the beast it was.

It took off on all four across the ground, heading towards the angel like a man on a mission.

It hit the angel with a full body check as it attempted to stand, the angel tried again to fire another attack, though this time Unit One was ready and simply punched the mask, completely shattering what remained of it.

The Eva began to play with its new toy, picking here and poking there, when it suddenly opened its mouth and took a huge bite out of the angel.

Maya covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to repress the urge to vomit.

Ritsuko and Misato just watched in morbid fascination as the Eva began to eat the angel before it.

"Oh my god! She's taking the S2 engine into herself!" was all Ritsuko could say as the Eva finished devouring said organ and stood once again.

It howled as it's AT field came into the visible spectrum, the winds inside the Geofront gusting to near hurricane strengths.

The armor plating covering the massive beast began to explode off of it.

"Oh no, she's freeing herself." Ritsuko said.

Misato looked at her, "What do you mean 'freeing herself'."

Ritsuko continued to look on, "That armor is not just to protect the Eva and its pilots, it is a restraint, and it's what binds the beast to our will. Now that beast is free from our control." she said as Unit One continued its releasing ceremony.

Gendo stood in his office, looking out the massive window over the Geofront.

Kaji was standing next to him, "The old men aren't going to like this." he said.

Gendo merely smiled "I will handle them. Everything is going just as my plans dictate."

Kaji just watched as the Eva began to walk around the Geofront, as if examining its surroundings.

Later…

Gendo was sitting in the conference room where his meetings with SEELE were always held.

He waited for the members to appear, they were late for the meeting, and they were never late.

A light flicked on from somewhere high above revealing a table in the middle of the room.

A figure cloaked in shadow appeared on top of the desk,

"Who are you?" Gendo demanded, as the figure stood slowly.

The man standing before him was about 6' tall, and rather thin, with short black hair and glowing green eyes.

"You may not know my name, but you will meet the master in person." Joe spoke darkly.

He back flipped off the table into the darkness and another dark figure appeared on the table, this one standing roughly 6' 2", very muscular, with short blonde hair, and eyes the color of hellfire.

"And you are?" Gendo said, never once standing.

The figure smiled wickedly "You may call me master, and before you ask your council will not be able to make it to the meeting this evening."

Gendo was speechless; the shadow seemed pleased with the quiet.

"Would you like to know why that is?" he asked, Gendo nodded, honestly curious.

With a snap of his fingers twelve spotlights flicked on all around Gendo. Under each light was nothing more than a pike, with the head of the corresponding SEELE member stuck upon it.

"You see, they simply lost their heads when my partner here told them that I would be taking over as the new council."

Joe came back out of the shadows behind Gendo, "They didn't like some of the changes that Master has in mind." he said as he placed a hand on Gendo's shoulder, he could feel the man shivering beneath his touch.

Joe grinned and released his grip and faded back into the shadows. Master held his place on the table, "You have two options here Gendo, you can either do as I say and live. Or... you can refuse and join your friends as my new garden statues."

Gendo just gulped and nodded his head slowly.

"Good." The Master stated, "I will have my partner here be in touch with you. You may go for now." and with that the room fell dark again.

Gendo pressed a button on his desk that brought the lights back up.

He looked around the room, but there were no signs of any dismembered heads, or the two figures that were just present. "This... was not in the scenario."


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer in Ch 1.

**18**

Hours after the fight

Ritsuko stared at the computer screen again, she wasn't sure how to solve this.

Her previous attempt had failed, and she was sure this time wouldn't be any different.

She gathered her report up as she headed towards Gendo's office. Hopefully he would actually care this time.

As she walked towards the large dual doors that led to the evil mans office, she was suprised to see that the doors had been removed, and in it's place were hanging beads like some pre-second impact dorm room.

She slowly made her way into the office, she was shocked to see that there was track lighting all along the walls.

The room that once before scared even the most steeled of men was now a very warm and comfortable looking office, complete with a small fern in the corner.

"Umm, sir?" she inquired as she approached the desk.

Gendo looked at her and strained to smile, "Hello Doctor Akagi, what is the status of Un...Shinji?" he asked.

His sudden concern for Shinji caught the doctor off guard, "Umm, sir... are you feeling okay?" she asked, he simply nodded and waved his hand as if to dismiss the surroundings.

"Well sir, it appears that during his fight with the angel, Shinji achieved a four hundred percent sync ratio. As you well know the last time this happened, the pilot was non-recoverable."

Gendo nodded, "Just like his mother." he stated.

Ritsuko nodded "We were lucky that we were able to restrain her after she broke her restraints."

Gendo nodded, "We are, if it wasn't for his concern for the Se... Asuka, who knows how long she could have gone on."

It was true, while the gruesome attack on the angel was horrific and bloody, what happened afterwards shocked everyone the most.

Unit One continued to look around it's new surroundings, taking in all that was new to it.

When it's eyes fell on the body of Unit Two, she let out a howl of pain and fear as she walked towards the eva.

As she kneeled down next to the unit, everyone was suprised to see what appeared to be tears form in it's eyes.

She rolled Unit Two over and pryed the cover for the entry plug off, forcing it to auto eject.

She pulled the plug out and stood up straight, then turned and walked towards a recovery point.

The techs were quick to restrain the Eva after is set the plug down on a catwalk near her cage. She then powered down as the restraints were put into place.

Day 1

Misato sat with Asuka outside the hospital room where Toji was currently in, they were waiting for Hikari to leave so that Asuka could talk to him in private.

"You know everything will be alright, right?" Misato asked.

Asuka was feeling the sting of losing Shinji because she couldn't hold her own in battle.

"Everything will not be alright, we're not even sure if he is still alive or not!" she said as quietly, yet as angryly as possible.

Misato hung her head, they had gotten word from Ritsuko as soon as she finished informing the commander.

Asuka was taking it hard, she had promised that she would be the one to defend him, so that he wouldn't have to pilot anymore, and she failed him.

Misato put her hand on Asuka's shoulder, that was all it took for Asuka to break down, she buried her face in Misato's shoulder and cried, the love of her life was potentially dead, her reason to live had disapated right along with him.

Hikari came out of the room and was suprised to see Asuka and Misato sitting there.

Misato motioned for her to go and be quiet about it. Misato sat her up and looked her square in the eye "Now listen to me Asuka. He will come back, he told me once that he loved you more than life itself, he knows how much this must hurt. I guarantee that he is doing what he can to get back to you, and don't count us out either, we will do everything within the power of this organization to get him back, I swear to you."

Asuka looked at her and nodded, wiping a tear from her eye.

She stood up and headed into the Toji's room to inform him of the current situation.

As Asuka slowly walked into the room, Toji watched her carefully, "Hey red, how's it goin?" he said, the name calling now was more of a friendly nature, even Kensuke had changed his attitude towards the once irritable girl.

She moved to sit next to his bed, head hanging. Toji took note of her current dress, and realized that something must have been wrong.

"What's wrong? where's the Shin-man?" he asked, having only seen the two of them together, he knew something was wrong.

Asuka raised her head to reveal the tears in her eyes, "Shinji... He's trapped inside his Eva. They don't know if they can bring him back... and it's all my fault... If only I was able to defeat that angel... It's all my fault that he's de..."

There was a resounding slap that echoed through room. Asuka held the side of her face were a red mark was already showing.

Toji was holding his hand, rubbing it where he had made contact. "Don't you ever say that. I'll admit that I haven't known him long, but if there is one thing I know for a FACT, is that he would not abandon us. If there is a way for him to come back, to come back to YOU, he will go through hell to be there. Asuka, he loves you, and as much as I was against it in the beginning, I don't understand why he fell in love with you but he did. You ever say that he's dead, or that you blame yourself for it, and I'll slap the shit out of you again, do you get me?" he said,

Asuka just let the tears fall, she knew that everything he said was true, Shinji did love her more that she had thought she could be loved. She nodded her head gently and he leaned out to give her a hug.

Time Unknown

Shinji looked around for the umpteenth time.

Everything looked familiar, and oh so peaceful, and yet at the same time, everything was wrong.

He was standing in the middle of the park near his home. People where walking this way and that, and many were having picnics. The weather was what most would consider perfect.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but everything just seemed completely out of place.

"What's wrong my son, isn't this what you wanted?" an eerily familiar voice said out of no where.

Shinji looked around, but could not see a body to go with the voice.

"You may not see me son, but I have always been with you." The voice said again. "I have given you the world you always wanted, one without hate, fear or pain."

Shinji watched as the people continued to walk around, completely and utterly content.

Shinji turned around and saw a figure leaning against a tree several yards from him.

The man was dressed in a long black trenchcoat, as the man moved towards Shinji he noticed that his entire outfit was black, and the hat he wore blocked most of his face from view, revealing only his mouth and chin.

"Is this what you truely want Shinji?" The man asked, he recognized the voice as that of the Master.

"What's going on? What happened with the angel? did I beat it? Is Asuka safe?" Shinji asked with concern in his voice.

Master put his hand on Shinji's shoulder and calmed him. "So many questions, Yes Shinji, you did beat the angel, and everyone is safe. Save for you." Master let go of him as he took a minute to catch his breath.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" The female voice boomed, "YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!!" She screamed.

Shinji looked around as the voice nearly scared him to death.

A young looking woman appeared out of thin air, with short brown hair and face that seemed very familiar.

"Aya... No... Mom?!?" Shinji said with a shock.

The woman looked thoroughly pissed as she walked towards Master, who put himself between the woman and the boy.

"You are not supposed to be here, why are you here? how did you get here?" she was shouting at him.

In a flash, Master drew his hand back and punched Yui square in the jaw, sending her flying into the ground.

Shinji screamed as he watched his mother fall, "What are you doing?" He asked as he spun master around.

"I am doing what must be done to ensure your safety, and don't try to stop me, you'll only make matters worse." Master then spun back around and faced the downed woman.

"Listen to me and listen well Yui Ikari. Your son has fallen in love with a wonderful girl. While your husband is planning to destroy all of humanity just to see you again, he will do this by sacrificing your son and his girlfriend. Only it will not work, I will not permit it."

Yui looked on with interest, "That is quite a story you have there sir, but I must warn you, no one will be able to stop what we started, everything is going exactly as planned. You see, my husband and myself, we planned this from the beginning, I knew what I was doing when I stepped into that plug. I knew all of this would happen, but the one thing I didn't expect was for my son to fall in love. That was the reason why I pulled him here, to protect him from the pain of her rejection. Oh my sweet Shinji, you did know that she would reject you. You had to know, what with the way she treated you when you first met." She said, trying to justify the current condition.

Shinji recalled the way he was treated upon meeting Asuka on the carrier. "But she changed, we both did. We are different now... Aren't we?" Shinji started to doubt how she really felt about him, and Master could sense it.

"Don't let this demon woman into your mind Shinji. Asuka really does care, would you like to see?" Shinji nodded his head.

Yui started to open her mouth but Master turned towards her, flicked his wrist, and sent the image of the woman from the scene. "Come, I will show you how much she loves you." Master said as he held his hand out.

Shinji grabbed it and was suprised as the scene changed to the cages of NERV, where they floated several yards above Unit One.

"You are currently trapped inside the Eva Shinji. Your mothers will is holding you in, and you have to be willing to escape. She will try to make it seem like the perfect world as you have seen. In the end it will be up to you. Now, what you are seeing is real, nothing is made up here. I have managed to bring your spirit outside of the eva to witness what's going on, but keep in mind that we cannot leave this room." Master said.

Shinji nodded as he watched the technicians run around frantically working on trying to free him.

Amid all the chaos, he saw the flash of red hair that was Asuka. She was sitting in front of the eva, near the core.

"What's she doing?" He asked. "The same thing she's been doing since you were absorbed, She is talking... To the eva, in the hopes that you will hear her."

Shinji strained but couldn't seem to make out anything.

"Here, try these." Master handed him a pair of headphones.

As he slid them on everything became clear.

"... Toji and Kensuke are really missing you. As odd as it seems, they've actually taken up defending me. A few of the girls in class are blaming me for your disapperance, and I don't blame them. Toji told me once that it wasn't my fault, and that you would return to us. I believe him, Please come back to me Shinji, I miss you so much, I love you, please come back." She began to sob.

Shinji took the headset off and watched as Misato came over to her and put an arm around her shoulder.

Shinji turned to face Master "What do I have to do."

Day 12

Joe walked into Gendo's office, still admiring the new look of the office.

"What do you want?" Gendo spoke from his desk.

"Oh nothing, just coming to check up on ya, that's all. Master want's to make sure your being a good boy." Joe smirked as he took a seat across from Gendo.

"What does your Master want with me? Why is he doing all this?" He asked.

Joe shrugged his shoulders, "Who the hell knows. Master is wierd like that." He started laughing, which unnerved Gendo ever so slightly. "All I can tell you is that it was either change, and mean it, or you could end up like your committee members." Joe grinned like a demon as he finished his sentence.

Gendo gulped "I have done everything asked of me. I really am trying to change, though it will not change the outcome."

Joe stopped laughing, and in the blink of an eye was standing behind Gendo with a dagger to his throat. "Oh, I wouldn't say that just yet. Master has a way of ... moving people." Joe said.

"Ah, I see your having fun." Master said as he walked out of a shadow.

"Is he misbehaving again?" Master asked.

Joe nodded, "Yeah, he's still convinced that you can't change what's going to happen."

Master just smirked "So says him. By the way Gendo, Yui says 'Hi.', course between the screams it was hard to hear exactly what she was saying, maybe she was saying 'Shit, our plan isn't going to work.' or something like that." Master continued smirking as Gendo's face paled greatly.

"H...How do you now about that?" He asked. "Oh, we have had a nice little talk while Shinji was doing some thinking, But I digress, we should be on our way." In a bright flash of light Master and Joe were both gone,

leaving Gendo to wonder if he had really thought his life through.

Day 18

Asuka was a bit disappointed, Toji and Kensuke were both being held after class for fighting. She felt bad that she was the reason they had gotten in trouble, but they both told her that they would do anything for thier friend.

That touched her very deeply, she had never, before Shinji, had someone stick up for her because she was thier friend.

So now she was walking slugishly towards the apartment she shared with Misato, and the currently absent Shinji.

She took note of the movement around her, her training had made it easy, but she made no sign that she knew she was surrounded.

She raised her head from the ground and her eyes set upon the leader of this band of insane fangirls. One Mana Kirishima stood directly in her path.

"So, where are your little guardians now hmm?" The short haired red head said grinning.

"I don't need them to beat you and your band of psycho-fans-girls." Asuka said.

"Well, if you just tell us what you did with our little Shinji-kun, we might go easy on you." Mana said while cracking her knuckles.

Asuka chuckled a little, "You do know that both Shinji and myself went through some pretty strick martial arts training. Right?" Asuka stood with her feet locked in place, her hands by her side, with her bag in her right hand.

"Maybe, but we have you completely surrounded, and severely outnumbered, incase you forgot."

Asuka just continued grinning, "Bring it then."

Mana nodded and five girls rushed in on Asuka. She threw her bag high in the air as the attack started.

She punched forward with her left fist, connecting with one girls abdomen, while simultaneously kicking back with her right foot, catching another in the stomach, sending both of the girls flying backwards.

She quickly put her right hand down on the ground and did a reverse cyclone kick, knocking the other three girls down in a second.

Upon stand again, she put her right hand in the air and caught her bag as it fell.

Mana stood shocked, she had never before seen someone move so fast.

"Everyone, GET HER!" She screamed, they wouldn't kill her, just make her sorry for getting involved with thier Shinji.

Asuka grinned as the horde of girls swarmed in on her. She let go of her bag as she clapped her hands together, dropping to the ground and slamming them hard, she cause the ground around her to look almost liquid as it rolled, much like a stone thrown into a pond.

The girls all lost thier footing in the three foot waves of concrete and fell hard to the ground. Asuka stood back up smiling, taking in her handy work.

"I told you I didn't need those two to help me with you." she said as she walked through the groups of beaten and battered women, when she came to Mana, she just smiled and continued walking.

Day 23

Misato sat in the observation room for... well, she lost count after five hours.

"So, what's the current outlook?" She asked Ritsuko.

The blonde doctor just sighed as she looked away from the computer screen, rubbing her eyes "Same as it was when we started, with Shinji's ego border shattered, coming back is really all up to him. He has to want to come back from where ever he is. Other than that, nothing short of a miracle will work."

Misato sighed and hung her head again, it was the same thing. She knew he had a damn good reason to come back, She had seen his reason everytime she went home.

The once fiery haired girl was now more of a lifeless shell, constantly moping around, spending all her free time talking to the eva.

Misato had pulled her out of school after the last little incident with the fangirl group. She also had all charges against Toji and Kensuke dropped under the guise that they were undercover section two agents, strictly defending the life of an eva pilot.

Misato's attention was brought back around as she saw a shadow fill the doorway, of all the people she would have expected to see, he was really the last, even with the new changes she had heard about.

Gendo slowly walked into the room, wearing his normal affair of clothing, except that he was wearing regular glasses, not his demon orange ones.

He walked over to Ritsuko and leaned in close whispering in her ear.

She looked like she might have a heartattack right then and there.

She looked at Gendo like he had just told her were the holy grail was located and nodded.

He stood and turned back towards the door, as he was about to leave stopped and turned towards Misato, "Excuse me Misato, but I never properly thanked you for taking care of my son. There is only one thing I can think of to repay you for your kindness."

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. She just stared at him blankly and took the piece of paper, not even looking at it.

"Th...Thank you sir..." Gendo smiled at her and walked out of the office.

Ritsuko watched as the purple-haired woman finally looked at the paper and promptly passed out.

Ritsuko rushed to her friend's side and tried to wake her to no avail, after determining that she wasn't in any real trouble, she grabbed the piece of paper and promptly passed out herself.

Joe appeared in the room from the shadows, "What could be so surpising on this." He said as he picked up the paper and read aloud,

"Dear Misato Katsuragi. Thank you so very much for treating my son with the respect that I never could. I understand that things have been hard, so I would like to repay you for your kindness and continued service as his guardian and superiour officer. The amount stated below has already been deposited into your account, and the movers will be over this evening to move your stuff to the address listed below." Joe looked further down the note and continued "Address 650 S. Doubato, hmm fancy end of town, and... nice, 500 million yen." He laid the paper back down, "Looks like Masters plan is working." He took a step back and faded into the shadows once more.

Day 30

Asuka was walking around thier new apartment, surpised the commander had given it to them.

"Well, it's alot better than that place we were in. Though I was suprised there were only two bedrooms, did he know about our relationship?" She walked into her and Shinji's room, she looked around at all the stuff she left sit in boxes, alot of it was hers, some was his.

She couldn't bring herself to put his stuff up without him there to help. She walked over to a box labeled 'CD'S' and took the lid off. Most of them were her's, but there was a divider that seperated her's from his.

She flipped through some of his cd's, Linkin Park, Mortal Kombat and a few others, but the one she noticed was one by a really old band.

She pulled the cd out and put it in the player, and started listening from the beginning. When track two started playing, she lost it completely, she broke down crying like she never had before.

She stopped the cd and put it back in it's case, then left the house with a mission in her heart.

Shinji was sitting on the tip of the eva's horn, watching the people move here and there.

Master had shown him how to escape, spiritually atleast, from the eva and had even left him the headset to listen to those around him.

He was always pleased to listen to Asuka or Misato when they came around, and he was shocked when Asuka said they had a new place they were living in, but what shocked him more was that his father had given it to them.

He looked on with interest as all the of technicians in the area looked up at the ceiling startled, and quickly fled the room.

He looked around but didn't notice any of the alarm lights flashing, so he knew it wasn't an angel.

He put his headset on just in time to catch the end of the statement. "Repeat, all personel please evacuate the cage."

Shinji raised an eyebrow "Hmm, wonder what's going on." He was surpised to see the hatch swing open and Asuka come walking in.

She looked more and more worn everytime she came to visit.

"She's going to try to save you." Shinji jumped as Master appeared next to him.

"Would you stop that damnit!" he shouted.

Master chuckled and pointed towards the girl. "Watch, and listen."

Shinji turned his attention back towards the girl that held his heart. "Shinji... please, if you can hear me, listen more now than ever." She turned towards the control room and nodded her head, suddenly the speakers in the room came alive with a tune he had listened to many times before.

_I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house, that don't bother me.  
__I can take a few tears now and then, and just let them out.  
__I'm not afraid to cry, Every once in a while  
__Even though going on with you gone still upsets me, there are days  
__Every now and again I pretend I'm ok, But that's not what gets me._

"How did she..." It hit him square in the chest, "She listened to my cd's, she... she couldn't have known... I never told her."

Master watched closely as Shinji held his chest tightly 'Yes, it's working, and better than I could have thought.' Master thought to himself.

_What hurts the most, Was being so close.  
__And having so much to say, And watching you walk away.  
__And never knowing what could have been, And not seeing that love in you  
__Is what I was trying to do._

Asuka walked up to the core of the eva and leaned against it, "Please Shinji-kun, please know that I love you, very much. That's hard to admit, but you made it so easy, and there was no sign that it would hurt. I was wrong Shinji, I lost you because I screwed up, I hurt myself by losing you... Please Shinji, Forgive me." She broke down crying, her tears falling upon the core like rain.

_It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you, everywhere I go, but I'm doing it  
__It's hard to force that smile when, I see our old friends and I'm alone, Still harder  
__Getting up, getting dressed, living with this regret  
__But I know if I could do it over, I would trade, giveaway all the words that I say in my heart that I left unspoken._

Shinji held his chest tighter "Wha...What is this pain?" He said as he looked towards Master.

"It's simply Shinji, it's your heart. It's trying to pull you out of the eva, and take you where it knows you need to be. You have to let go of the anchor formed in this unit, and you will be released to her." Master closed his hands over the headset, and then removed them. "You will now be able to hear, even inside the eva. Go, tell your mother what has to happen so that you may join your love." Master spoke.

With a nod Shinji disappeared back into the core.

_What hurts the most was being so close  
__And having so much to say, and watching you walk away  
__And never knowing what could have been, and not seeing that love in you  
__Is what I was trying to do._

Shinji stood face to face with his mother, whom had been released from her restraints.

"Mother, please understand. She loves me, and I love her. I don't want this world you have shown me."

Yui just looked on, "Are you sure? You could have her in this world too you know."

Shinji just shook his head, "Wouldn't be the same. I'm sorry, but I'm leaveing."

Yui just nodded, "I'm sorry to have tried to hurt you my son."

_What hurts the most was being so close  
__And having so much to say, and watching you walk away  
__And never knowing what could have been, And not seeing that love in you  
__Is what I was trying to do. Is what I was trying to do..._

Asuka continued to weep into the core, beating gently on it. "Give me back my Shinji. Please, just give me back what I want!" She screamed.

There was a humming coming from the core. She took a step back and looked around, trying to see if anything was changing.

Suddenly the naked form of Shinji Ikari was thrust out of the core, knocking her over and landing on her, his head on her stomach.

She checked for a pulse quickly as a medical team was called into the cage area.

She was so happy that he was safe, she held him and cried gently, holding the blanket that was given to them around him. She listened gently as she heard Shinji whisper very low, "I... Love... You... Too... Asuka... -Chan..." She held him tighter, and insisted on being transported to the hospital with him.

She would not leave his side until he was awake.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer in Ch 1.

**19**

Shinji slowly opened his eyes; he saw that he was truly out of the Evangelion, and that he was in a hospital room.

What he couldn't see was what was holding him down. There was a massive weight on his right side holding his right leg and arm down, but also a light brace across his chest.

He brought his left arm up and felt the brace on his chest; it was rather soft for a restraint, continuing to follow it to his right he noticed that it was connected to a larger restraint.

He brought his hand up toward his shoulder and felt the mass of rumpled hair and he grinned.

Turning his head just slightly, he took in the fiery red mane of his girlfriend lying next to him.

'She must have requested a larger bed this time.' he thought as he brought his hand back down to rest it on her arm.

He closed his eyes and slipped back into a rather peaceful sleep.

Asuka woke to find that Shinji's hand was gently holding her arm; she knew he had woken up at some point because he hadn't moved since they put him in the bed.

She smiled as she sat up, her head nothing more than an odd explosion of hair in every direction.

'Well, that's what I get for not washing it every single morning.' she thought as she looked back over the last week.

She had stayed by his side, only leaving to eat or shower, and since she had to go all the way to the locker rooms to shower, she only went every other day.

She walked into the hallway and stretched her back; the bed was larger, but still not as comfortable.

She headed towards the cafeteria to get breakfast for both of them, she would wake him up when she got back, 'And I have just the way to do it too' she thought with a grin on her face.

Shinji's eyes shot open, something was touching him, and it wasn't a doctor doing a physical. His head shot up off the pillow and looked down to see Asuka sitting on the edge of the bed, with one hand under the blankets, said hand currently resting on the aforementioned location.

"Uhhh..." he said somewhat brain-dead.

She smiled and pulled her hand back out, "Figured I'd wake you up special." She kept grinning as she stood up, kissed his forehead and walked over to the rolling table and brought their breakfast over.

"Hmm... How long have I been out this time?" He asked, she looked at the calendar,

"Almost a week." She said as she took a bite of toast.

Shinji took a bite of bacon as they continued talking about what happened over the last few days along with what he could remember while he was trapped in the Eva...

"So, you could hear and see everything that was going on while you in the Eva?" She asked as he finished his story.

He nodded "Almost everything, I heard the song you played. It was your love for me that pulled back from where I was. Well, you and master that is."

Asuka pondered for a minute "Do you trust this master? I mean, I know he hasn't done anything wrong, but do you think we can really trust him?"

Shinji nodded after a minute "I don't see why not. He has been nothing but helpful, and he brought me to you." He finished with a smile.

After changing into his normal clothes, and being discharged, they walked down to the parking lot where Misato was waiting for them in the car.

"Well, you ready to go to your new home?" She asked.

Shinji looked at her slightly confused.

"Oh, you didn't tell him?" She asked Asuka as they got in.

"Guess I kind of forgot." She said with a chuckle. "With him waking up and all."

Misato couldn't help but laugh as they got in the car and took off.

Shinji leaned forward from the backseat "What new home? What happened while I was out?"

Misato looked at Asuka and burst out laughing. Asuka just sighed and chuckled "Well... Let's just say your dad isn't as big a bastard as we all thought."

Shinji raised an eyebrow at this comment and waited to hear the rest. Asuka retold the story of how Gendo gave Misato a new home in the upper class area of town, and the back-pay for being his guardian.

She also informed him about how it was her that found both Misato and Ritsuko unconscious in the lab with the note and check in hand.

Shinji sat back in disbelief. "My father? Bastard king of the known universe? Did that?" Asuka just nodded, "Do you think...?"

Shinji just nodded his head without saying a word. Misato noticed this unspoken conversation, "Think what?"

Shinji just shook his head, "Nothing to worry about, guess we have a guardian angel on our side." he said with a smirk.

As they pulled into the driveway of the house, Shinji could do nothing but stare, it was huge. Two full floors, with what looked like a basement with an attached garage.

"Just so you know Shinji, other things have changed as well since you've been gone. You can thank your girlfriend for it too." Misato said as she got out of the car.

Asuka shot a glance at Misato mouthing 'not the bedroom'. Misato chuckled and shook her head,

"Oh?" He said as he crawled out of the backseat.

"Yeah, you'll have to wait till we get inside to see though." She said as they walked towards the front door.

As Misato opened the door Shinji's mouth dropped to the floor.

'This place is huge!' he thought to himself.

Misato stood grinning as Asuka waved her hand in front of Shinji's face to make sure he was still there.

As he looked to his left there was an archway that led into a large dinning room, with a door at the far end leading into the kitchen. The table in the room was large enough to sit twelve people easily.

To his right was another archway that led into a massive living room that was every bit as long as the house was from front to back. Several chairs and a very expensive looking couch furnished this room, along with the 64' plasma flat screen attached to the wall at the far end.

In front of him was a hallway with stairs on the left leading up, and a door under them that led to the basement. The hallway continued to the back of the house where two more doors on either side led into other rooms.

Asuka led Shinji through the lower level of the house and couldn't help but laugh a little as they entered the kitchen. It was so clean and spotless that Shinji almost passed out.

"I've been out cold for a week, and this place is still in one piece?" he asked shocked.

Misato put her hand on his shoulder, "Told you you'd be surprised. Asuka is the one to really thank, she helped me change some of my more questionable habits." she said with a blush.

Asuka spoke up next, "That's right. No more underwear strewn about the house, no more trash collecting in piles, and no more late night drinking binges." she stated as a matter of fact.

Shinji turned to look at Misato who simply nodded and said "Guess I never realized how much it affected you guys."

Shinji reached out and gave her a hug.

Asuka led him upstairs after they finished on the first floor.

At the top of the stairs Shinji noticed there were four doors, two down the left hallway, and two down the right hallway.

They started with the left hallway first. The first door they came to was Misato's room, and as much as she tried, she just couldn't keep it clean, but that was completely understandable and Asuka just let it go.

The next room the walked into was PenPen's.

"Yeah, he got his own room now, not just a fridge." Misato said as Shinji stared in disbelief at all the stuff a warm-water penguin could actually want.

Shaking off the sights of the last room they headed to the next. A standard office room, three desks were against the walls, one for each person.

"This way we can all do our work without trying to find a place." Asuka said.

Each desk had a computer set up on it, with screensavers that showed whom each computer belonged to.

Shinji was about to ask a question, but was silenced by a single finger from Asuka.

"I know what you're thinking and just wait." she told him as they headed to the last room.

As she opened the door, she took his hand in hers, and walked in together.

"And this... Is _our_ room." She said, hoping he wouldn't lose it.

She looked at him and had to blink a few times. He was actually smiling, she couldn't believe it and she was standing right there.

She looked toward Misato, who was standing at the door. She just grinned and closed the door, leaving the two young adults with some quiet time.

"So... We share a room now?" he said, the smile never leaving his face.

Asuka nodded, "Is that okay? I mean, if your not comfor..." This time she was silenced with his finger as he moved closer to her.

"I couldn't have wished for anything better." He told her as he leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the lips. "And I promise to be the perfect gentleman after dark."

Asuka blushed a little at what he was implying, "O...Okay... but only till we get older... then..." She leaned in close and whispered something in his ear, something meant only for him to hear, and he promptly passed out.

Misato yelled from downstairs, "You told him, didn't you." Asuka could only laugh as she leaned down to wake Shinji up.

Later that night they all sat comfortably in the living room watching TV.

Shinji kicked back in what he found out to be a reclining sofa, with Asuka's head laying in his lap, eyes closed.

Misato was in her own recliner, eyes closed as well, listening to the music station they chose to listen too.

Shinji thought to himself 'This is really the life. Nothing can go wrong now.' he smiled softly and continued to listen to the music.

Outside the house, a shadowy figure watched in silence at the beautiful scene before him, then shook his head and faded into the darkness of the night.

Shinji woke early the next morning, still reclined on the couch, with the beautiful red head in his lap.

His purple haired guardian, and something of a mother figure, sound asleep in her own chair. He smiled to himself as he slowly put his feet down and attempted to get up without waking either one.

Unfortunately, it was very difficult to get out from under Asuka's head and she woke ever so slightly.

"Shhh." He told her. "Go back to sleep."

She mumbled something and fell right back into sleep. Shinji made his way to the bathroom, grateful that there were actually two of them in the house.

Then he made his way to the kitchen to make some breakfast for his little family.

Misato and Asuka both entered the kitchen almost floating on their toes, following the scent of the wonderful food being cooked by the third member of the ragtag family.

They both sat down towards the head of the table, leaving the head spot open for Shinji.

While he was locked inside the Eva, they had talked it over and decided that Shinji should get the head seat.

Shinji walked out holding three plates heaping with food. He put the plates in front of them and they both had to wipe the drool from their mouths.

Each plate was stacked with sausage, bacon, ham, scrambled eggs, toast, hash browns, and a slice of fruit.

"Hope you guys are hungry." he said as he set his own plate down at his spot and pulled up a seat.

He was happy to see that they both gave a quick thumbs up as they continued to shovel their food in, acting like they haven't eaten anything since he went away.

After breakfast both children sat in the living room, simply relaxing in each others arms. They would rather be out somewhere doing something, but the rain coming down outside sort of prevented anything pertaining to going outside.

Shinji sighed as he lay in Asuka's lap this time, her hand slowly stroking his hair. "Ya know... I spent a month and a week locked away or unconscious. Why can't my first full day of awareness be more...? I don't know... entertaining?" he said as he closed his eyes.

Asuka chuckled, "Guess that's just how the world works... huh?"

He smiled and mumbled something as he continued to relax at the soft touch of his girlfriend's hand.

The boom of the angel alarms broke the peace and quiet both children had been enjoying.

"What do you mean I'm not allowed to leave?" Shinji barked through the speaker as he sat in the cockpit of his Eva.

"I'm sorry Shinji, but we're still not sure what will happen if we allow Unit One to come into contact with another angel, after what happened with the last one." Ritsuko said over the com.

Gendo sat at his desk with his hands folded in front of him, "Do not worry Shinji. If something happens, you will be released from stasis." He said, shocking everyone around him.

Shinji could only nod in confusion at his fathers actions.

On the surface, in the pouring rain Asuka sat in the plug of Unit Two. A less power consuming positron rifle locked and loaded. She was positioned with the barrel of the gun on the roof of an ammunition building, aimed into the sky, leaning back against another building for support.

"What's the hold up in there? I want to get back to my relaxing day." She said as she waited for further orders.

A visual of Misato appeared on the screen. "We are working on it, the target still in upper orbit. We're not sure if the rifle with reach it let alone pierce the AT Field.".

Suddenly one of the techs shouted, "Energy buildup detected." The next thing everyone in the command center heard was Asuka's pained screams as a bright beam of light shone down from above and enveloped Unit Two.

Shinji grabbed the control yolks of the Eva and screamed "ASUKA!"

_Asuka stood in front of and old projector screen, watching the most traumatic events of her life play again, and again, and again. "Why are you doing this?" She screamed as she covered her head, "Get out of my mind!" unknown to her the Eva was reacting with every movement she made. A gentle voice suddenly started to speak from everywhere. "Why do you hide these? They make you who you are." Asuka again shook her head trying to forget, "But it hurts to bad, I don't want to remember, please don't make me remember." The voice spoke once again. "And what's this? You shouldn't have this kind of power." As the angel began to remove what knowledge from her head she screamed again. "NOOO!! QUIT RAPING MY MIND!!!!!!" She collapsed to the ground weeping. She was able to mutter once more before she gave into the pain, one simple word, "... Shinji..."_

Everything she though she was saying in her mind she was actually saying out loud. When Shinji heard his name whispered painfully across the net, he lost it.

He gripped his right hand tight and brought the Eva's hands up, ripping the restraints from the wall.

He pushed the massive docking restraint away from his chest and let loose a furious growl as he brought his right hand up to his forehead.

"Shinji stop! We do..." Ritsuko shouted before the Commander cut her off, "Let him go."

In the blink of an eye Unit One was on the surface, near Unit Two.

He charged straight into the red Eva, knocking Asuka out of the beams path.

Unit Two fell silently to the ground, its pilot unconscious.

_Shinji now stood in a similar position Asuka was in. "So, you like to make people relive bad memories huh? THEN TRY MY LIFE!" he shouted as he forced all the bad and horrific memories he could remember to the surface of his mind. The angel recoiled first from sudden change of target; then again as it was forced to view images that did not seem to affect its current target like they had the last. "You too have a power you shouldn't." The angel again reached into his mind and began to extract the knowledge. Shinji screamed as his head exploded in pain as information was forcefully removed. "NOT THIS TIME!" he screamed._

Unit One put it's arms out to the side, palms forwards.

AT Field energy began to collect within its palms. The Eva slammed its massive hands together, at the wrists.

A massive beam of pure AT energy shot forth from his hands and followed the same path as the beam coming from space.

The force of the shot cleared the skies around Tokyo-3 as the energy easily made its way into space and pierced through the Angel's own AT Field and destroyed the mental assailant.

Unit one was now crouched down next to Unit Two, Shinji was force ejecting the plug within minutes of ejecting his own, forcing himself to fight against the headache that threatened to collapse him on the spot.

"Asuka! Asuka, come on baby, wake up." He shouted as he sat in the plug holding her limp form in his arms.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked into his; those deep blue eyes were back.

Shinji noticed that her's too had reverted back to those beautiful blue eye's he had fallen in love with.

"Oh, Shinji..." She said as she clutched onto him and began to cry her eye's out.

Shinji could do nothing but hold her as she continued to weep, even as the rescue crew arrived. He helped her walk over to a waiting ambulance and held her through the whole ride back to NERV Headquarters.

Asuka was lying on a bed, Shinji sitting next to her.

She slowly opened her eyes again; she had been sedated so she could be checked out.

She looked to Shinji and realized that what she had seen in the plug wasn't an illusion,

"Shinji... Your eyes..." She said softly

He nodded slowly, "Yeah, yours too." He handed her a mirror and she looked at her reflection.

"Why?" She asked.

Shinji shrugged, "I Think that's what the angel took from us. It recognized our powers as something that shouldn't be, and took them."

Asuka looked back to Shinji with tears in her eyes, "There's something I need to tell you. Something that's very painful to me, about my past."

Shinji looked into her deep blue eyes and nodded, "I will listen, and then I shall tell my own story."

Asuka started telling Shinji all about her past, it was going to be a long night, and they both knew it.

A shadowy figure watched from the window, which happened to be several stories up, sadness present in his face, he turned to go and thought to himself, 'I'm so sorry my children, but this is only the beginning.'


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer in Ch 1.

**20**

Shinji laid in bed, looking at the ceiling, cradled in the crook of his right arm slept his best friend, girlfriend and, if everything ended well, his future wife.

He smiled slightly as he absorbed the warmth of her body.

As per Asuka's wish, they always wore clothes to bed, pajama pants and shirts, so as not to temp each other yet.

He thought back to the night a mere week ago, when they revealed to each other the secrets of their pasts that each thought would never get told.

It was eerie how similar their childhoods were, mothers who died young, fathers who didn't care, and a feeling of uselessness.

Ever since they shared these secrets, they have grown closer together.

At first it was difficult for them to get comfortable together, not because they were nervous, just because it was a new situation for each of them.

Shinji slipped quietly out from under her and made his way towards the restroom to relieve himself, and then off to the kitchen to make breakfast.

He had to take over breakfast again since Asuka lost her abilities in the kitchen, but she didn't mind, she liked getting served breakfast in bed.

The girl in question was starting to stir as she took notice of her lack "teddy bear", as Misato called him.

She could smell the breakfast that was cooking downstairs, and this made her smile. She got up out of bed and headed off to the bathroom to get a shower before she ate.

In the kitchen Shinji could hear the shower start up as he pushed the bread down into the toaster. A few minutes later the love of his life came down the stairs in her school uniform, bright eyed and smiling as usual.

Shinji set breakfast down before her and headed off to get his own shower before heading to school.

"Don't take too long." Asuka said as he started upstairs.

"I won't" Shinji replied as he passed Misato in the hallway. Misato made her way downstairs and into the dining room where her breakfast awaited.

She grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured herself some coffee. "Is it getting any easier?" Asuka asked as Misato took a sip of her coffee and sat down. Misato nodded

"Yeah, I want to thank you guys for helping me out." She replied.

Asuka nodded, she knew it wouldn't be easy for the woman to cut back on her drinking, but they had managed.

"So? What about you? Any easier?" Misato asked back, a small grin on her face.

Asuka's cheeks turned a tinge of pink, but not like it was at the start.

She nodded "Yeah, It's still weird having someone else in the bed when I go to sleep."

Misato nodded "I remember that feeling. You'll get over it though, as long as you don't get TO comfortable with each other. Not under my roof." She said with an evil grin.

Asuka really turned red at this but continued to eat.

They started off for school on time, as was the case nowadays, hand in hand.

It no longer bothered either of them what people would think, course they never mentioned that they slept in the same bed, that would have cause way to big a scene.

Toji and Kensuke hassle Shinji about his relationship, but it's only friendly banter.

Hikari was glad they got together, and was actually a bit jealous of Asuka, as she was hoping her relationship with Toji would go just a smooth.

They all sat at their desks as school started up.

Since the Sensei was out sick, the students were given some desk work to do for the day.

This, of course, got boring quickly so Asuka and Shinji started up a chat.

Chat Room Created

Berzerker Has Entered  
RedDeath Has Entered

Berzerker Hey, I was gonna ask you something but I kind of forgot.

RedDeath Oh? And what's that?

Berzerker Have you heard from Master or Joe since the last angel?

RedDeath No, I haven't, I'm kind of concerned.

Berzerker I know, but it will be alright. Remember I promised you that.

RedDeath I know, but without our powers, will we really be able to fend off the angels?

Berzerker Of course we will. Now, what do you want for dinner?  
Their conversation continued on for quite sometime before the lunch bell rang.

All the kids were sitting on the roof, eating and chatting.

Shinji was about to ask a question when he saw a wisp of smoke come from behind the roof access building.

"Excuse me guys, I gotta go check something." He said, as he stood he gave Asuka a nod and she continued talking making sure no one would follow.

As Shinji turned the corner behind the little building he was met by the same cloaked figure from before, with Joe standing just behind and to his side.

"Master, is everything okay?" Shinji asked.

Master nodded, "Yes, everything is alright. We wanted to see how you two were coping without your powers."

Joe opened his mouth to say something, but Master raised his hand and silenced him.

"Oh, yeah, we're getting used to it again. I'm kind of worried about the next angel attack." He responded.

Master nodded "Understandable, but you will be fine, now go join your friends. Sorry to have disturbed you."

Shinji nodded and started walking back to the group. Time slowed to a stop as he walked away.

"You know this is bullshit." Joe spoke up.

Master held his hand in front of him, looking into his palm, he watched as the future played out. "I know, but there is nothing I can do for now." he said.

Joe reached out and put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. "So what? We're just going to let this shit happen? How can we abandon them?"

Master closed his hand into a fist, "You don't understand, and there is nothing I can do to help you. You just have to trust me, please."

Joe released his grip and growled "This had better not turn south." He said.

Master turned towards Joe, "Things will happen as they should. You should only worry when the end comes; we will see if they have what it takes." Joe nodded.

Time slowly resumed as the two faded from the world.

Later that night, as the children sat on the couch eating dinner and flipping channels, neither was completely sure of the future.

Shinji was the first to speak, "Asuka, I... I have something to ask."

She finished chewing her food before she spoke, "Sure, what?" she took notice of the uncertainty in his voice.

"I... I don't want you to be at the next fight."

Asuka was shocked to say the least. She couldn't believe what she was hearing; he was asking her to stay out of her Eva, to stay out of combat.

Her anger started to rise and this was visible to Shinji.

"Wait... before you get mad, please hear me out." He took a breath, "I know your strong Asuka, that's one of the things I've come to love about you. Without my powers, I don't feel that I can protect you the way I used to. After what happened with the last angel. I don't think I could stand it if something were to happen to you."

Asuka felt her anger slip away; she completely understood what he was saying.

"Shinji... I'll be fine; as long as I'm with you we will be able to do anything." She laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Please trust me. You've trusted me with so much in the past, even your heart. You have to trust me again. If it looks to dangerous, I promise I will retreat." She said comfortingly.

Shinji looked into her eyes and nodded. "Alright, I will trust you."

She smiled and got off the couch, "Good, now, it's getting late. Let's go to bed." she told him with a seductive wink.

Shinji's brain ran over a hundred scenarios in a split second, then just shutdown.

Asuka laughed as she walked over to the collapsed body of her boyfriend.

Shinji was out cold, and would be for the night. Fortunately, thanks to her training, Asuka managed to drag him upstairs and in bed.

She thought about leaving his clothes on, but they had become used to sleeping in just their nightclothes.

The feeling of skin on skin contact was something that was very special to both of them, and she wanted tonight to be just as special.

She made sure she carefully removed his clothes, leaving him only in his boxers, and rather discreetly covered.

Now it was her turn to get ready for bed. She quietly removed her shirt and shorts, but then she paused for a moment, 'Would he be mad if I do this? Would he be embarrassed? Most likely' she thought with a small giggle. 'But he'll just have to deal with it.' She slowly reached behind her and undid the clasp of her bra, letting it slide off her shoulders and onto the floor.

Then she lowered her underwear and quickly crawled into bed under the covers. She moved next to him and pressed herself into him. She took it all in and felt herself melt into him, her chest pressed into his side, his arm around her. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted into peaceful slumber.

Shinji slowly opened his eyes, his head was pounding slightly, but he did notice that he was in bed, and dressed appropriately so.

He stretched slightly, taking notice of the weight on his left arm. It was then that he realized that something felt different; something about the way Asuka was laying on him. He moved his hand under the blanket and gently put his hand on the small of her back.

'Okay, that's normal... what...' he thought as he slowly moved his hand up.

As he softly brushed against skin that should have been cloth, he gulped slightly as the woman next to him snuggled closer. He then took his hand and moved it below the small of her back, and again felt only skin where there should have been cloth.

'She didn't... she wouldn't have...' he thought as all the blood rushed out of his brain. He stared at the ceiling for several minutes before he could bring himself to look down at her.

He took his right hand and slowly lifted the blanket up, the sight before him took his breath away. The breasts of his girlfriend were pressed snuggly against his side, her left leg draped across his, a surprisingly smooth feeling against his skin.

He slowly dropped the blanket again, hopping he wouldn't wake her. True, they had been open with each other and had done things neither would have expected, but she could still terrorize even him.

He put his right arm under his head and was about to get comfortable when his worst fear came to pass.

"Did you like what you saw?" Asuka said as she looked at him with a fire in her eyes.

He stuttered a little, but she put a finger on his lips to silence him. "It's okay; I was hoping you'd take a peek."

Shinji grinned and leaned in to kiss her, and Asuka put her hand on his chest to support herself.

As they broke their kiss, Asuka grinned as she moved her hand from his chest to his boxers.

Shinji's eyes lost focus for a minute and he sighed gently, "I see someone else liked what they saw too." She said with a grin, and then crawled out of bed, giving Shinji his first unobstructed view of the woman that he was in love with.

She turned her head a little and stuck her tongue out. "Quit staring, you'll mess up your eyes like that." she said as she padded across the room and threw on an oversized shirt, big enough to cover everything.

Shinji sat on the couch watching TV, Asuka cuddled up next to him.

Shinji's brain was still in a state of recovery, and Asuka was enjoying the fact that she still had it.

Misato walked in from the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hand, she sat down in her chair and looked over at the couple.

She noted Shinji's eyes were slightly glazed over, but the fact that Asuka was sitting next to him, hands to herself, made her wonder if something was wrong.

"You okay Shinji?" she asked, causing him to blink once or twice before nodding his head,

"Yeah, just didn't sleep well." Misato raised a curious eyebrow towards Asuka, who just grinned before remarking "No Misato, we didn't do anything like that, anta hentai."

Misato giggled as Shinji blushed, she trusted her wards, but she couldn't pass up a chance to tease.

"Why not? Shinji having difficulty? Because I'm sure Rit's could prescri..." she was cut off as Asuka jumped from the couch and tackled her into the recliner, sending both of them backwards in the chair as it tipped.

This of course gave Shinji another wonderful view of Asuka's panty-less behind as she jumped from the couch, and the shirt lifted.

Unfortunately the fun was not to continue as the angel klaxons sounded.

Asuka was running upstairs to grab a pair of shorts before they left while Shinji went to grab the car keys as Misato got off the floor.

Five Minutes Later

Shinji, Asuka and Rei (who is starting to wonder if she'll even make it to the end) are each standing outside the entry plugs of their respective Evangelions.

Commander Ikari stood on the bridge next Misato, who was looking at him like he had lost his mind.

Of course, his actions over the last month or so had led many people to wonder if his mind didn't take a vacation from his body.

"Alright, Rei and Asuka will launch, Unit Zero will be primary, Unit Two on backup. Unit One will hopefully remain on standby." Gendo spoke, eyeing Shinji and getting a slight nod.

Asuka and Rei nodded as well and the three got loaded into the plugs.

Gendo walked back to his desk and sat down, Fuyutski would have come to say something, but he was still on vacation.

Instead a shadow moved forward and spoke to him "That must have hurt you, old man." Gendo knew who the shadow was, "Not as much as you would have liked it too, Joe."

Joe grinned, "Good, because Master says everything is going as planned. So long as it stays that way, you will be back with Yui at his whim." Joe said as he vanished in a wisp of smoke.

On the surface, Unit Zero and Unit Two took up strategic firing positions within the city.

Their current target was a band of light, shaped like a ring, floating in the sky several hundred yards outside the city.

"It's just sitting there, pattern is stable." one of the techs reported.

Misato looked at one of the displays, "Alright, Rei, take a shot; see if we can rile this thing up." Rei acknowledged the orders and took aim.

Across town in an empty warehouse two figures stood looking across an empty room. "You let her keep the rounds this time?" One shadow said.

The other nodded "Yeah thought I'd give it a chance." the other said grinning.

Back at Unit Zero, Rei sighted her target and pulled the trigger. The massive blast of the rifle shattered every window in a ten block radius; the gigantic round pierced the air with sonic speed and struck its target square on.

An orange AT field appeared upon contact and the bullet deflected down into the ground, sending up a one hundred foot plume of dirt.

"No reaction from the target." A tech shouted from a terminal.

Misato took another look at a side screen, "Alright, Rei and Asuka, both of you move in from opposite sides. When your within two hundred and fifty feet, raise your AT fields to full and attack."

Both pilots acknowledged the orders and started moving, dropping their weapons as they go. Each grabbed a progressive axe from the weapons towers near by.

As they approached their target Shinji opened up a channel to both pilots. "Both of you be careful, especially you Asuka" This brought a smile to the girls face.

When both pilots reached their marks, they readied themselves before activating their fields. Being Rei was primary; she was the first to activate her field. The angel suddenly uncoiled and one end swiftly rushed towards Unit Zero like a snake on cheap crack.

Asuka quickly raised her AT field and rushed forward. The angel continued on its path to Rei, but just as it was about to attack, Rei reached out and grabbed the angel several meters back from its 'head'.

As Asuka reached the other end of the angel, it too lashed out at her and attacked. She dropped the axe as she was forced to grapple with the angel hand to ... rope.

Both pilots screamed in pain as the angel began to force its way into their systems.

"Sir Contamination present in both units, spreading from the hands." A tech shouted.

Gendo glanced at the screens. "Send Shinji!" He shouted.

Unit One was launched quicker than it ever had before. Shinji spread his AT field as soon as he hit the surface, pushing it to full spread.

The power of the field caused the angel to retract from both units, and change its course to attack the new target. "Shinji, watch out!" Asuka shouted, just as the angel attempted to attack the purple beast.

Shinji quickly dodged, pulling his right shoulder back, causing the angel to shoot past him. "Put your fields down!" he shouted as he grabbed the 'tail' end of the angel and pulled it back, throwing it as hard as he could across the city.

Asuka and Rei both dropped their fields, causing the angel to completely ignore them.

Shinji grinned, as the angel once again rushed him.

As he went to grab it, the angel learned from its last attempt, quickly snaked around his hands, and made contact with his mid-section.

The infections quickly spread as he was caught of guard by the attack.

_Shinji looked around at his new surroundings. He was standing on a bridge like the ones in base, over looking a vast sea of LCL looking fluid. "Where the hell am I now?" He said._

_"Would you like to be one with me?" A voice said from behind him. He turned to see a clone of himself standing, no hovering, on the fluid. _

_"What?" Shinji asked as he watched his clone._

_"I can give you peace of mind, and freedom of pain." The person said. _

_Shinji burst out laughing, causing the person in front of him to tilt its head. "Oh man, that's too funny." He said, still chuckling. "You had better get the fuck out of my head now; nothing you could offer me would make me go with you. It's been tried before, and I'll be damned if some little piss ant like you is going to succeed where someone else has failed." Shinji pulled his fist back and swung forward, his whole arm stretching across the fluid and catching the clone in the jaw sending him flying backwards._

The angel was pulled free of Unit One, but its power was drained, absorbed by the angel.

As Unit One let go of the angel, it's AT field disappeared from around it, causing the angel to return to its former shape.

Asuka watched in horror as Shinji was powered down, and took off running, picking up her axe as she went. She raised her field, knowing it would attract her target.

The angel loosened itself and started snaking its way towards its revealed target.

Asuka quickly jumped into the air and flung the axe down, cutting the angel in half. Asuka landed and turned, but never saw the lead part of the angel as it struck her square in the chest.

_Asuka glanced around, quickly noticing that she was standing on a catwalk above some fluid. _

_She glanced around and quickly found a mirror image standing across the fluid. "Would you like to become one with me?" _

_Asuka was taken back by the question. "What do you mean?" She asked. _

_"I could take you away from this pain, away from torment of the world. I could give you everlasting peace." _

_Asuka thought about it for a split second, giving the angel the time it needed to quickly scan her mind. "You could spend the rest of your life with him, and never have to worry about dealing with angels, every again." _

_Asuka clutched her hands to her chest, "But, what about Shinji, how could he be with me?" She questioned. _

_The clone grinned and everything went black._

Rei had run over to Shinji and quickly plugged a power cord into Unit Ones back.

Shinji powered up and quickly glanced around the field, "Where is it! Where's Asuka?" He shouted as he continued to look.

Rei simply pointed to the currently downed body of Unit Two. He quickly ran over to the massive red unit, drawing his prog knife from the right shoulder pylon. He brought the knife down right where the angel connected itself to the Eva. Then he brought it out, slicing the angel right down the middle.

He grabbed the plating over the plug and ripped it off in one swift move. After ejecting his own plug he rushed to the plug and opened it.

He leaned in, hearing the sirens off in the distance.

He pulled her from the plug, and held her tight in her arms. He checked for a pulse, and found one, strong and healthy.

Her breathing was steady as well. He held her in his arms, rocking back and forth slowly. "Come on honey, wake up, please wake up." he said as he brushed her LCL soaked hair off of her face. 'Please wake up, come on.' He thought as held her tightly.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer in Ch 1.

**21**

Shinji was asleep in the chair, though not the most comfortable position, he wasn't about to leave.

Asuka lay on the hospital bed, her monitors on silence so as not to wake the rooms other occupant.

Both had been in the room the entire time, with the exception of bathroom breaks. His food was brought to him by the staff, and cloths were brought from home thanks to Misato.

Many of their friends had come to check on her, some expected like Toji, Hikari, Rei, and others not so.

Two days after the angel attack Shinji was sitting next to her bed.

There was a slight knock at the door and it opened, standing on the other side of the door was one Gendo Ikari.

Shinji glanced in his direction then turned back to Asuka.

Gendo walked in and stood behind his son.

He put a hand on Shinji's shoulder and spoke quietly, "Son, I'm sorry for what has happened. If there were some way I could help I would. We have the doctors working on ways to figure out what happened."

Shinji sighed, "I know what happened. Cause it happened to me as well. The angel offered her a life that she thought she could never have. The Eva tried this with me, which is why I was trapped for so long. I'm more disappointed that she thought there was something I couldn't give her." He squeezed her hand gently.

"Shinji, please don't blame yourself, there was nothing more you could do. I'm sure you know this, but when dealing with coma patients nothing is set in stone. She could wake up in five minutes, or it could be 5 years. Please make sure to take care of yourself." Gendo turned to leave the room,

Shinji turned his head towards his father. "Thanks... Dad..."

Gendo nodded and smiled gently.

It had been a week since the attack, and Shinji was definitely looking all the worse for wear.

Misato walked in with a bag of cloths, and his lunch tray. She set the tray down on the table, and put the cloths on the dresser before walking to wake the boy.

"Shinji, time to get up." she said quietly, hating to wake him.

Shinji stirred a little before his eyes opened slowly. "Morning Misato." he said as he sat up in the chair.

"Hey, I just wanted you to know, before anyone else told you, that the new pilot is arriving tomorrow. He will be designated to pilot Unit Two, at least until Asuka wakes up."

Shinji nodded, not really caring about piloting or anything else to do with the Eva's.

There was only one more angel to kill, and then all of this would be over with. All he wanted to do was find the angel, tear it apart with his bare hands, devour its S2 engine and be done with all of this so he could be with the woman he loves.

He knew that Asuka would be furious if someone else piloted her Eva, but he didn't think she would care right now, and he would deal with her when she awoke.

Shinji gathered up his stuff and headed to the showers. Misato would watch over Asuka while he got out of the room for an hour or so, but when he would come back she would leave and let him be alone with her.

Shinji was in the male pilot's locker room, letting the warm water soak over his sore muscles.

Never before had his back and neck hurt so bad, just from a nights sleep.

He would have to ask about getting a spare cot brought in or something.

"Damn that chair." He said as he tried to massage his shoulder under the warm water.

Suddenly a hand came out of no where and began to massage it for him. It felt good for slightly less than a split second.

He spun around and grabbed the person's wrist with his right hand and used his left to slam the person's body into the wall of the shower.

Shinji quickly removed his hands from the boy in front of him and took a step back.

Before him was a boy who stood about his height, with spiky silver-ish hair, and the same red eyes as Rei.

"My, that was quite unexpected." The boy said gently rubbing his wrist.

"You're lucky I didn't straight up kill you where you stood." Shinji said, not quite ready to let his guard down. "I take it you must be the new pilot, otherwise you wouldn't be here." he said.

The boy nodded his head and offered his hand "My name is Kaoru, Kaoru Nagisa."

Shinji sized him up real quick, then reached out and offered his hand.

They shook hands briefly, "Now, if you'll excuse me Kaoru. I want to finish my shower."

Kaoru nodded and left to his own stall. 'I must be slipping, I never even heard him come in.' He thought to himself.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and finished his shower so he could return to Asuka's room.

As Shinji opened the door, Misato stood up with Kaoru standing next to her.

'Never even heard him leave either.' Shinji thought for a moment.

"I heard you already met Mr. Nagisa. Temporary pilot for Unit Two." Misato said with a small smile.

Shinji nodded before he tossed his dirty clothes in the chair. "Yeah, you could say that." he said, walking towards his chair next to her bed.

Misato looked towards Kaoru and nodded slightly; he nodded back and started towards the door.

Misato walked next to Shinji and put a hand on his shoulder. "Shinji-kun, you need to get out of the room for more than a shower. You know Asuka would be furious if she could see you sitting here wallowing like this." Misato said softly, gently squeezing his shoulder.

He put his hand on hers and squeezed softly "I know Misato, but I can't help the fact that it was all my fault. If I had just been a bit faster, or stronger."

Misato cut him off as she leaned down and embraced him in a very motherly hug.

"Honey, please go out for a while, I'll sit here with her just incase. Go show Kaoru around they city, maybe hookup with your friends. Please, just go out and take a break." She said.

He nodded and got up, looking defeated, knowing very well that Asuka would kick his ass from headquarters all the way back to the house if she found out how long he had stayed at her side.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few hours." He said with a sigh.

As Shinji walked out of the room, Kaoru was standing across the hall.

"Let's go." Shinji said in a tone that lacked any emotion.

As they stood on the elevator going up Shinji pulled out his phone and called Toji.

"Hai, listen, you wanna get together at the arcade?" He glanced towards the other occupant of the room. "Yeah, I've got someone for you to meet. All right, see you there."

As he closed his phone, Kaoru started to whistle a tune to pass the time.

"Ode to Joy, Beethoven." Shinji said.

Kaoru grinned slightly "That's right, you know your songs."

Shinji nodded, "I used to play cello. Seems like a life time since I played."

Kaoru turned towards Shinji, "You know I believe that music is the true path to someone's heart. Don't you?"

Shinji raised an eyebrow, "Umm, you do know how queer that sounds, right?"

Kaoru looked Shinji straight in the eye, "Umm... Now that I think about it... yeah it was." They both started laughing, something Shinji hadn't done in quite sometime.

As the elevator reached the top floor, they both exited and headed towards the main gates.

"You really love her, don't you?" Kaoru finally asked causing Shinji to stop in his tracks.

He hung his head slightly before speaking quietly, "More than anyone on this planet will ever be able to understand." He raised his head, his eyes a glow. "I have and will continue to throw myself in harms way just to prevent her from getting hurt. I have suffered more in these few months than most people will in their whole lives, and she is the only one I can talk to about it. She's been there, she understands. She is my greatest source of strength, and the reason I will continue to fight this war."

Kaoru stared at him and smirked, "That's just what I would have expected to hear from the wonderful Shinji Ikari." With that they continued out the main gate and headed towards the arcade where Toji and Kensuke were waiting.

In the dark corner of an alleyway two figures smiled.

"Are you sure it was Shinji?" Kensuke asked again.

Toji nodded as he shifted his weight between his feet, his therapy had been going well.

"Yeah, it was him. Guess Misato finally got him out of the room." Toji replied.

Kensuke looked around and waved as their brown haired friend walked around the corner, with him was a boy about their age with silver hair and red eyes.

As they got closer Toji extended his hand to shake Shinji's.

"How's it going man?" He asked as they shook hands.

"Not bad. This is Kaoru, temporary pilot of Unit Two. Until she wakes up." Shinji said, lowering his voice near the end of his sentence.

Kensuke offered his hand, "Hi, I'm Kensuke."

Kaoru shook his hand. "Hi, so, they got anything good in here?"

Kensuke's eye's lit up, "Oh yeah buddy, let's go!" he shouted as he took off into the arcade, Toji and Shinji shook their heads as Kaoru's eye twitched slightly.

Several hours later and a few thousand yen lighter, the group walked out of the arcade.

Kaoru and Toji spent most of their time playing ticket games, and walked away with a few bags each of different prizes.

Kensuke and Shinji played more of the combat simulators, with Shinji coming away victorious in all matches.

"I still don't know how you did that. I've played that game for months, and I've never seen someone pull of that kind of maneuver in a Raptor." Kensuke said, slightly heart broken.

He had Shinji dead in his sights, he had lock, tone, and everything was perfect, when all of a sudden Shinji braked, climbed, stalled backwards and punched the throttle, all in the span of six feet.

This blew Kensuke's mind, before he knew it he was staring straight at a missile, and that was it.

"What can I say; you just don't have the skills." Shinji said with a laugh, causing the others to laugh as well.

As they got to the corner, Toji and Kensuke parted ways from the others, and headed home, leaving Shinji and Kaoru.

"Well, if you excuse me, I should get back to the hospital." Shinji said as he turned towards the nearest NERV entrance.

"You know, everything will work out for you to. Call it a feeling, but I believe that all will be well in your futures." Kaoru said, causing Shinji to stop in his tracks.

Without turning around Shinji spoke quietly, "All I have ever wanted in life was someone to love, and a reason to fight. I have found both of those things in one person. Having found this, it opened my eyes and my heart to those around me; suddenly I realized there were others whom loved me in different ways, Misato, Toji, Hikari, Rei, and Kensuke. All of them are worth me fighting and defending."

Kaoru smiled slightly, "You know Shinji I have to say. From one person to another, I love you."

Shinji raised his eye brow and turned around, but was welcomed with an empty street.

Outside the city, Kaoru now stood atop a hill over looking the city.

Master appeared from the shadows of the forest, his short hair fluttered in the breeze, and his eyes seemed calm in the gentle setting of the sun.

Kaoru never turned around, "You know, the others are not pleased with your current interference."

Master chuckled slightly before speaking, "I don't care if they are pleased, they cannot stop me now. It took them to long to detect me. But I'm not here to talk about them. I'm here to..."

Kaoru raised a hand to cut him short, "You want to know if I plan to go through with it."

Master nodded.

Kaoru hung his head a single tear streaking down his face, "I just don't think I can. It looks as though the human race might actually make it after all."

Master walked up next to Kaoru and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're more than welcome to leave. I'll make sure you're not reprimanded for your actions here."

Kaoru raised his head up and looked over the city one last time; he started to whistle the same tune he did in the elevator when he was with Shinji.

"I'll make sure Shinji knows about you." Master said as Kaoru turned and walked into the forest disappearing without a trace.

Joe walked out of the shadows and took his place next to Master, who looked over to Joe.

"Ya' know, he was k..."

Joe put his hand over Masters Mouth, "Don't even say it, fucker."

Master started laughing, Joe just stood there, watching the city flourish below them.

"So, now that the last angel has gone. Are we ready for what I think is coming?"

Master stopped laughing and sighed "Almost my brother, almost. I just need you to do something, and you must be quick. There's less than twenty four hours before the forces begin their assault."

Master turned towards Joe and put his hands on Joe's shoulders. "Go now and wake her from her sleep. She needs to be conscious when everything starts. Make her see that Shinji is waiting. Show her what her future will be." Joe nodded and phased out of existence.

Master turned back towards the city before looking into the heavens, "I know it's too late. I have seen what you plan on doing, but be warned. I will not let you get away with this." Master lowered his head and phased out of sight.

_Asuka sat naked, cold and crying in the corner of another room. They always seemed to change, never the same room twice in a row. She was tired, but couldn't seem to sleep. _

_She was hungry, but couldn't find any food. She was so confused about what to do. All she could really remember was the angel offering her a better future, and for a split second she faltered in her trust in Shinji. _

_Because of that brief moment of ignorance she was now stuck in this hell hole. With no way out of the current situation all she could do was sit and cry over the life that she was now missing out on. _

_She felt the room change again, but this time a hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder. _

_She jumped a little, as nothing had touched her before, and looked up slowly._

_Standing before her was Joe, his eyes shone bright in the darkness of the room. _

_"Come young one. It's time to begin your journey out of here, and we must be quick about it." _

_She stayed crouched in the corner, unsure of how to react when suddenly she was fully clothed with a sandwich in her hand. _

_"That should be more than enough to prove that I am real." _

_Asuka quickly devoured the sandwich and stood up. _

_"Why am I here?" She asked. _

_Joe smiled eerily "You know the answer to that, but now I have been given the task of waking you. You see, you're currently in a coma, but there is something you must see. Something that may help you awaken." Joe reached out once again and took her hand in his. _

_With a snap of his fingers the scene around them changed, they were now standing in her hospital room. _

_Shinji was once again setting up for sleep, this time he did get a cot. _

_Asuka inhaled sharply, having not seen him since her last fight. _

_"What's he doing? He should be at home where he can sleep." She said with concern in her voice. _

_"Oh, he has not been home since you came here. He has slept by your side every night, leaving only to shower while Misato watches over you." _

_There was a knock at the door and Misato walked in, "Are you sure your going to be okay?" She asked._

_He nodded "Yeah, I finally asked for a cot. Sometimes I wonder how I ever made it without her sometimes." He said as he reached out and took a hold of her hand. _

_Misato smiled sadly and said goodnight before turning and leaving. _

_Shinji reached out and flipped the switch to turn off the light. _

_Asuka walked over and kneeled down next to Shinji, she leaned forward laying her head on his chest. _

_"I really was stupid to doubt him, wasn't I?" She said, _

_Joe walked over to her and placed his hand on her back, "Yes, but that's okay, you learn from your mistakes, now we must hurry and awaken you. There is a war coming, one that you must be conscious for." _

_Asuka nodded and stood up. "Let's get started then."_


	22. Chapter 22 part 1

**22.1**

It had been a very exciting weekend for Shinji.

In just the last twenty four hours Asuka's condition has improved dramatically.

The doctors have even said that there was a high possibility that she would wake up within the next day or two.

Shinji had been keeping watch over her, wanting to make sure that he was the first one she saw when she woke up.

_Asuka was once again standing next to the wall she had been hammering on for so long. _

_She had no idea how long she had been working on it, all she knew was that Joe had instructed her to destroy the rest of the walls that surrounded her heart. _

_She took a break and thought of the last German meal she had eaten. Suddenly that very meal appeared before her and she sat down to have a little snack before she went back to work. _

_Joe walked out from behind what was left of the wall. _

"_What do you think your doing?" He asked as he walked up to her. _

"_I'm eating, what the hell does it look like?" she replied_

_Joe hung his head and shook it before speaking, "I don't think you understand what's going on her. You have to get the wall torn down, and it needs to be down before we can start the next step. You're not out of this yet." He said his tone very aggravated. _

_Asuka looked up at him, "What do you mean? I thought I just had to take down the wall and I would wake up. What's this other crap I have to do?" _

_Joe brought his hand down on the table, cracking it in half, "You still have to prove to your inner child that Shinji is the one you love. To top it all off, you have to do it within the next twenty four hours, or you'll..." Joe stopped short of finishing his sentence. _

"_I'll what? What's going to happen if I don't wake up from this coma within the day?" she asked, slightly nervous. _

_Joe just stared at her, "I... I'm not allowed to say. You see, Master knows the future, he has seen it, and he is able to change the flow of time. He knows what's going to happen to you and Shinji. He knows what will happen if you don't wake up. This is why we have to start working harder, because I've seen your inner child, she's going to take quite a bit of time to convince." _

_Asuka looked at him with fear in her eyes, "Am I going to die?" _

_Joe sighed, "Not if we pick up the pace, but just remember that you have to do this alone, I'm not allowed to help you." _

_Asuka stood up and grabbed her sledgehammer, and walked toward the last stretch of the damned barrier that prevented her from seeing the man she loved._

_Several hours later the last bit of the wall was completely destroyed, _

"_Now, where is that little whiney brat I used to be?" She said triumphantly, wanting so desperately to get back before something happened to her. _

_Joe walked up beside her and pointed toward an open door. Her younger self standing in the door way, watching her momma swing with the doll next to her. _

_Asuka quietly walked up beside herself, "I know what you're thinking." She said as she watched the horrific scene before her once again. _

"_But I can promise you, things will get better." She said._

_The child turned towards her, hate and anger in her eyes, "How can you say that? Momma just left us, and took that, that doll with her. She wanted to kill me." The child said._

_Asuka dropped to her knees and put her hands on the child's shoulders. _

"_Listen to me, I know it doesn't look like it know, but it will get better, watch." _

_Suddenly the area around them changed. They were now standing in the street; it was the night Asuka was attacked after training. _

_The scene played out before them as it had before, "So this is how things get better? People beat us up?" the child said._

"_No, just watch." Asuka said annoyance evident._

_The child watched awestruck as Shinji proceeded to viciously attack the offenders. _

"_See, there is someone who loves us, and will protect us." Asuka told the child, hoping this would be enough; she stole a glance towards Joe who just shook his head. _

"_So what, he will leave us eventually." The child said as she turned away._

_Asuka stood up, "You're not going to make this easy are you?" she asked her younger self._

Meanwhile…..

Shinji had just left Asuka's room and was heading to the lunch room.

Since she was getting better, he finally started leaving the room more often.

He actually spent a night in his own bed just the other day, but he missed the other occupant so much that it wasn't that enjoyable.

As he walked toward the chow hall he nodded to those who passed and said hi, and stopped to talk to those whom where interested in Asuka's condition.

As he walked up to the counter, the chef behind it took his order and turned to go make it.

Shinji walked out and took a seat at one of the tables.

Just as his food came out Misato came running into the room and quickly and quietly sat down with him.

"Hey, we have a problem." She said loud enough only for him to hear.

Command Center…..

"Situation confirmed." One of the tech shouted, "The other seven Magi systems are attempting to hack into ours."

Gendo looked onward, and then towards Fuyutski "Get the good doctor."

Fuyutski nodded and picked up the phone.

Ritsuko threw down her report; she couldn't understand how the second child had made such a turn for the better, or why her brainwave patterns were showing activities for two brainwaves instead of only one.

The phone rang as she pondered the possibilities; she picked up the phone, "Yes…… Understood, I'm on my way." She slammed the phone down and took off for the command center.

Back in the cafeteria….

Shinji had been sitting, listening to Misato go on about the secret plot of Seele and how the JSSDF was planning a massive assault on the base in an attempt to claim the Eva's for the U.N.

"So wait, your telling me that even though the last angel is gone, they want nothing more than to control the Eva's because they can be used as weapons?" he said dumbstruck.

Misato shrugged her shoulders, "Could be that, or that they want to use them to create a third impact, making the world in the image that they want, not what the angels wanted."

Shinji thought for a minute, "Okay, so what's the plan?"

Misato looked around to make sure no one had been listening. "As of right now, we don't know when the attack is going to start; so all we can do is be on stand by."

Shinji sighed, he hated having to wait. "Alright, I'll finish my meal and head back." Misato nodded and pulled him into a tight hug, whispering in his ear as she slid something into the back of his pants, covering it with his shirt.

As they parted he nodded and turned towards his food. The only thought on his mind was the urge to protect.

The birds were quiet and not a bug chirped, quite strange really for a hillside on the outskirts of the city.

The scene looks quite peaceful, only a sole radio tower on the far side of the lake looks out of place.

A pair of binoculars focuses in on said tower, checking the surroundings for any sign of hidden armaments.

Having surveyed the scene the soldier lowered the binoculars and radioed back to camp, a second later the tower was engulfed in flames.

Upon a wall of monitors, one of the video feeds of a lake turned to static, suddenly another one died, and another.

Within seconds the whole wall was nothing more than a buzz of static.

Technicians ran around trying to understand what was going on, amid all the confusion Gendo and Fuyutski stood silently.

The elder man leaned in close, "Looks like the final battle will be against our own kind."

Gendo nodded, "It is mans fate to destroy himself, and this is how it will begin." He stood up and turned to leave, "Take care of things sensei."

Fuyutski nodded as he watched Gendo walk towards his private elevator.

As the man descended, Fuyutski turned around, "Alright everyone, go to stage one combat status. This is not a drill, prepare for enemy invasion."

Klaxons around the base started to sound.

A lone guard stood at the main surface entrance to the underground facility, he brought his hand up to his earpiece to hear the updated message when something covered his mouth quickly and a sharp pain pierced through the middle of his back.

He could do nothing but scream into the tightly held palm as his life slipped away. The gates of the entrance started opening one by one, revealing hundreds of JSSDF soldiers in full combat gear ready to rush the base.

Shinji was just finishing his lunch when the alarm klaxons rang out and a message came over the speakers.

"Alert, all personnel report to combat stations, level one priority, this is not a drill. All non-essential personnel report to safety shelters. Repeat all personnel report to combat stations, level one priority, this is not a drill. Enemy invasion is in progress."

Shinji dropped his tray and bolted from the room, pulling the service pistol from his back.

He thought back to what Misato told him when she gave it to him, "Protect the one you love, no matter what the cost." He replayed this in his mind as he snuck down the halls, chambering a round in the pistol and flipping the safety off.

The troops so far had been ruthlessly slaughtering anyone they came across, men, women, armed and unarmed.

They knew their orders, and it was killing everyone and claim the two remaining Eva's, disposing of the pilots if they were found.

They were well trained, and masters in their profession.

On the command bridge, the techs had armed themselves and were now beginning to take up defensive positions.

The orders had been given to flood any and all clear levels with Bakelite in an attempt slow them down, but it didn't seem to help.

The VTOL's that were descending down the main shaft made the Bakelite more or less useless, except that it covered both of the Evangelions, preventing anyone from trying to activate them.

As the techs readied for combat an explosion was seen on one of the lower decks, and two huge men carrying shields came through, providing some cover for troops in the hallway.

The bridge crew opened fire as soon as the smoke started to clear.

_Once again Asuka had shown her child-self how life was going to turn out for them, and once again the child turned her nose at it and walked away. _

_Asuka was on the verge of killing this child, but Joe stepped in._

"_Time is almost up, if something is not done soon, then nothing will ever get done." He said._

_Asuka looked at him, "Isn't there something you or master can do? Can't you guys help us?" she pleaded as Joe looked on, a look of loss on his face._

"_Unfortunately there is nothing we can do, it is beyond our power to actually interfere, and we can only help to shape what already exists." _

_Asuka hung her head and a tear rolled down her cheek. _

_The child saw this and walked over, "I thought we were never going to cry again, not after what momma did to us." The child spoke._

_Asuka looked down at her, with tears in her eyes. "You don't understand, if I can't convince you that life is worth living, then I will die here. Shinji will lose me, and we will lose him, don't you understand, I love him and he loves me." With this she finally broke down and hit the ground crying, _

_Joe kneeled next to her as the child looked on in awe of the scene before her. _

Shinji was slowly making his way down the halls, checking around every corner for any signs of troops.

Explosions and gunshots could be heard from inside the compound.

He reached up and wiped the sweat from his brow, now was not the time to get sweat in his eyes.

He crept down another hallway and stopped at the corner, he could hear foots steps quickly approaching from around the corner.

He held his position, no where else to go, and no where to hide.

As the first soldier came around the corner, Shinji pulled the trigger of the pistol, the bullet hit just in front of the left ear, before the soldier hit the ground, another was right behind him.

He turned his gun on Shinji who ducked and lunged forward; punching the man so hard in the chest that the dragon scale armor he wore dented in the middle, breaking his sternum.

A third soldier opened fire before Shinji could retract his arm all the way, and as a result was hit, through and through on his left forearm.

The force of the impact spun him around, his back now to the wall, but the gun in his right hand was ready to go when and if the soldier stuck his head around the corner.

Time seemed to stand still as the two combatants stood their ground. Shinji could hear movement coming from around the corner, but he could also hear troop movement coming up from behind him.

He had to do something, and he had to do it quick. The sound of metal bouncing made him turn to see a smoke bomb making its way down the hall.

Just as he realized his mistake he turned back to see the soldier standing in front of him, he pulled the trigger but it jammed.

'Damn it, not now.' He thought.

The soldier smiled, "Sorry kid, nothing personal." As the soldier pulled the trigger, time slowed down, the bullet had barely left the barrel and everything had stopped.

Shinji looked around and saw that everything seemed to have stopped dead; he was the only one capable of movement.

"What the…" He stuttered.

Master appeared from the smoke, his eyes glowing as red as the flames of hell itself.

"Shinji, you must hurry, I cannot say much without revealing the future, but you must make haste."

Shinji stood tall and faced the man. "I'm doing what I can, but as you can see I'm injured, and my guns screwed, and I am completely surrounded. Haste is not quite at the forefront of my mind." Shinji said, stressing the major issues at hand.

Master reached out with his right hand and grabbed Shinji's left forearm.

A gentle glow emanated as the wound healed, he felt a slight sting on his left bicep. As he looked down there was now a tattoo, outlined in black and filled with red.

It was of a cross, a serpent like creature was crawling and twisting around it, above the top was a crown with wings on each side of it.

He looked towards Master, whom was rolling up the sleeve on his left arm.

"That mark will protect you and increase your fighting ability, but you still have not regained the knowledge you lost. This will not be an easy task for you, but you must succeed." Master turned and started towards the smoke again, "For her sake, you must succeed." As he walked into the smoke time slowly began to restart.

Shinji took this chance to reposition himself behind the soldier. As time started the man was stunned to see his target was completely gone.

"Where…" was all he got out as Shinji reached around and snapped his neck in one swift move.

Before he took off around the corner he heard the soldiers radio crackle to life, "Repeat Third Child has been located in section 23, two teams engaging. Continue search for Second Child, Termination of targets has highest priority." Shinji froze, they were going to kill Asuka, and she couldn't even defend herself.

Masters words came back to haunt him, _"For her sake, you must succeed."_

Shinji turned back to face the two squads that now blocked his only path to the one he loved.

_Where have all the good men gone  
__And where are all the gods?_

There was one squad on each side of the hallway, each ducked down a hallway to protect them.

They watched the smoke slowly disperse hoping to see what the current situation was before opening fire, not wanting to make the mistake of firing on friendly's.

Shinji gripped his right hand, looked down at his freshly acquired tattoo, and grinned demonically as it started to glow.

He let out a feral roar as he charged down into the smoky hallway.

_Where's the street-wise Hercules  
__To fight the rising odds?_

The soldiers were deafened as a scream beyond human capability pierced their ears.

Shinji rushed down the left side of the hall way, catching the first soldier with a left cross that sent him flying across the hall, and into the corner, breaking his back on impact.

The second member of the squad raised his rifle and opened fire, but found he was firing at air.

Shinji back flipped across the hallway into the second squad, stopping just short of the point man.

He turned and caught the surprised man in the throat with a straight kick, closing his windpipe.

As the man started to fall to the ground, clutching his throat, Shinji pulled back and punched him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards into the rest of the squad, knocking them down and slightly disorienting them.

_Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?  
__Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need._

As the smoke cleared the first squad rushed the opposite hallway to check on their fellow troops.

The last man in the hallway never heard the snap, as his lifeless body fell to the floor revealing Shinji standing there grinning.

The soldiers turned back and opened fire, not caring if they were accurate, the guns had a high rate of fire and accuracy was not a primary focus.

They froze as they realized that he was dodging every round.

They stopped firing and rushed him, pulling out their combat knives.

_I need a hero  
__I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night  
__He's gotta be strong_

Shinji pulled back his fists and punched forward at the same time, knocking the first two soldiers back ten feet, their armors cracked like china under the force of the hits.

_And he's gotta be fast_

The last three soldiers turned back to face down the target, but couldn't find him.

One of them felt a tap on his shoulder and without thinking whipped around and slashed with his knife, slicing his comrade's throat open.

In the blink of an eye Shinji appeared between the last two, and then thrust his fists out to his side slamming both of the soldiers hard into the walls, cracking the concrete around their bodies.

_And he's gotta be fresh from the fight._

Shinji walked towards one of the bodies.

The radio once again crackled to life, "Squad Nine come in, what is your current situation."

Shinji casually reached down and picked up the device.

Pressing the transmit button, he made a simple statement. "Their dead, and soon so will the rest of you."

He dropped the walkie-talkie and began sprinting to the hospital wing.

_I need a hero  
__I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light  
__He's gotta be sure  
__And it's gotta be soon  
__And he's gotta be larger than life_

_Asuka stood there worried about what was happening, _

_Joe had disappeared only a moment ago, he didn't sound like it was a good thing either. _

_He reappeared with a look of anger on his face. _

"_This needs to be resolved now; we are almost out of time. Master has done what he can, but it will not last." He stated hurriedly_

_Asuka looked at the little girl standing before her. _

_She started to cry as the thoughts of losing Shinji flooded her mind, she started screaming "WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE?!?!" The child looked at her with interest._

_Somewhere after midnight  
__In my wildest fantasy_

_"You have been trying to convince me that this boy is worth returning to." She said as she turned and stared into the nothingness, "But I want to know what he's doing to help us." _

_Asuka stood their dumbfounded, "How the hell am I supposed to pull that off?" she asked as she turned to look at Joe._

_Somewhere just beyond my reach  
__There's someone reaching back for me_

_Joe thought for a quick moment then snapped his fingers. _

"_The same way that Master was able to help Shinji while he was trapped in the Eva." _

_He reached his hands out towards the girls, each taking a hand. _

_They were now standing in a random hallway in the medical wing._

_Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat  
__It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet_

_The girls looked around, the sirens were going off, and there were men in black soldiers' uniforms sweeping down the hallways, shooting anything that moved. _

"_What the hell is going on?" Asuka asked as another doctor was gunned down. _

"_The beginning of the end I'm afraid. The JSSDF is attempting to seize the base under orders from the U.N." Joe stated._

_Asuka continued to watch in horror and the slaughter continued. _

"_What about Shinji?" she asked, Joe pointed down the hallway._

_I need a hero  
__I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night  
__He's gotta be strong_

Shinji was holding a soldier up by his throat pinning him against a wall while the others opened fire.

He could tell they hadn't found her room yet, he had been listening to the radios of the men he had killed along the way. With a slight squeeze the man stopped struggling and went limp.

Shinji threw the corpse through the air and into the other soldiers of that group.

_And he's gotta be fast  
__And he's gotta be fresh from the fight_

_Asuka, Joe and the child watched as Shinji moved faster than the human eye could follow and felled soldier after soldier, each one dying at the hands of this young man, the pilot of Evangelion Unit One and a true human berserker. _

_Asuka cringed as another soldier fell._

"_This... this is what he is willing to do?" the child asked._

_Asuka nodded, "He would take on an army." She stated._

_They continued to watch the fight as Shinji fought to get to her. _

_The child had tears starting to form in her eyes. "He really does love us that much."_

_I need a hero  
__I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light  
__He's gotta be sure  
__And it's gotta soon  
__And he's gotta be larger than life_

Shinji kicked the door to the stairs clean off the hinges, they were currently sweeping her floor, and his time was running out.

He sprinted up the steps, hoping that he could make it in time.

The simple thought of something happening to her drove his rage higher, his eyes flickered briefly before returning to normal.

_Up where the mountains meet the heavens above  
__Out where the lightning splits the sea  
__I would swear that there's someone somewhere  
__Watching me_

_Asuka and the child were now holding each other tight. _

_Joe looked to his right and muttered, "Shit." _

_In an instant the scene changed, and they were standing in Asuka's room. _

_A lone soldier had entered the room and closed the door behind him. _

_He walked over to Asuka's body and looked her over. _

"_What's he doing? Where's Shinji?" She shouted._

_Joe looked at her, his eyes glowing in pure anger. _

_He was about to open his mouth when a hand reached out of the darkness and pulled him out of the scene._

_Through the wind and the chill and the rain  
__And the storm and the flood_

_Asuka looked down at her younger self, she looked up with fear evident in her eyes. _

"_Please hurry, I'm so sorry I've kept you for so long." The child said sadly._

_With that the scene faded to white._

Asuka slowly opened her eyes.

"Repeat Second Child found, termination immanent." The soldier said into his radio as he pulled his pistol from its holster.

"No….. Shinji….." Asuka managed to whisper as the soldier pointed the gun at her.

_I can feel his approach  
__Like the fire in my blood  
__I need a hero  
__I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night  
__He's gotta be strong  
__And he's gotta fast  
__And he's gotta be fresh from the fight_

Just as the soldier took aim, the door to the room exploded off the hinges flying across the room and slamming into the soldier.

The force of the impact caused his firearm to discharge at a different angle than he originally aimed.

Shinji flew through the doorway and punched through the door, sending the soldier flying out the window to the ground below.

_I need a hero  
__I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light  
__He's gotta be sure  
__And it's gotta soon  
__And he's gotta be larger than life_

Shinji turned back towards the bed.

Asuka laid there, a weak smile on her face, holding her side.

Shinji could see the blood seeping through the sheet.

"ASUKA!" he screamed as he dove to her side.

"Shi…Shinji…. I… I'm so sorry…. I couldn't… make it…. back." She managed to get out.

Shinji put a finger to her lips, "Don't talk please, I'll go get someone." He turned to leave, but he felt her hand hold time to him.

"Please… don't…. leave…" she whispered.

He dropped down held her close. "I'm so sorry Asuka; I wasn't strong enough, not fast enough. I could have stopped this." He was sobbing now, they both knew what was going to happen shortly but nothing could be done.

"Shinji…. Please…. One more…. Kiss..." she said as she felt the coldness creep up her body.

Shinji nodded gently and leaned in, placing one final kiss on her lips.

He could feel her return his kiss, the gentle warmth of her lips slowly fading.

With the last of her life spent, her head went limp, and her grip on his hand loosened.

Shinji pulled back, "Asuka…… Asuka... ASUKA!!!!" he broke down crying as he held her now lifeless body in his arms. He lowered his head down to her side. The tears flowing like a river, soaked into her sheets.

Shinji could hear the sounds of soldiers moving down the hallway, but he didn't care, they had taken her, they took the only thing he held dear to him.

The first person that cared for him and the first person he had truly ever cared for were lost in the endless void of death.

No, he cared for nothing now, and nothing would stop him.

"So they want third impact to join everyone do they? Well then, if I get to be with Asuka again, I don't care what happens to this hell hole of a planet." Shinji leaned down once more and placed a gentle kiss on his love's forehead.

"I know your watching over me know, but please, don't watch what I'm about to do." He said.

With that he lifted his head back and let loose a scream that rivaled that of a berserker Evangelion.

Every window in the building shattered, and many of the soldiers in close proximity lost their hearing.

His eyes shown the same blood red color they had before, and the energy he was releasing was destroying the room.

He stood and headed towards the door, each step slower than the last till he was standing still.

Joe stood in the middle of the room, staring at the sight before him.

"Why…. Tell me why you couldn't save her?" he asked as he turned to the corner to see master standing there, his eyes a very calm color.

"Would it matter if I told you it had to be this way?" He said calmly.

Joe dropped his head as the rage overwhelmed him.

He knew that whatever Master said was true, Joe knew he would never lie.

He looked up again and watched as Master walked over to Asuka body and touched her left bicep, creating a tattoo similar to Shinji's.

"I am so sorry my child, but I promise next time it will be different." Joe watched as tears made their ways from Master's eyes to his chin.


	23. Chapter 22 part 2

Disclaimer in Ch 1.

**22.2**

Maya could only watch the monitor with the live feed to Asuka's hospital room.

She watched and listened to the whole event, and she cried as Shinji screamed.

The other techs looked at her, as she simply shook her head.

They both knew what that meant, it meant that there was only one chance for survival, and he had just lost the one he loved.

It was no secret around headquarters, everyone knew they loved each other, and everyone was happy for them.

They continued to trade shots with the remaining JSSDF soldiers on the lower tier.

"Damn it, we just aren't armed for this kind of combat." Makoto shouted over incoming rounds.

A thunderous boom echoed through the command center, sending debris and bodies flying.

The techs noticed the silence of enemy fire and peeked over the top of their consoles.

What they saw shocked them; Unit One had broken through the main wall, and crushed the troops beneath its massive fist.

Maya looked down at her screen, "There is no entry plug, it's unmanned!" she shouted.

Makoto looked back at her, "But how did it break out of the Bakelite?" he asked her.

All she could do was shrug her shoulders.

Shinji stepped slowly out of the hospital room.

He turned his head to the left, slightly angled, and watched as troops swarmed in on his location, opening fire as they approached.

The shots bounced off of an invisible barrier around him, he chuckled as they continued to rush him.

His eyes flared brightly for a moment as he thrust his hand out and sent out a bolt of energy that he had only done while in the Eva.

The bolt arced between the soldiers, dropping them one after another. Shinji screamed as torrents of wind and debris swirled around him.

The walls around him seemed to crush beneath strain of his current actions.

_I never said I'd lie in wait forever  
__If I died, we'd be together now_

Shinji calmed down and looked back into the room one last time, he let a single tear roll down his cheek

He closed his eyes one more time as he turned back to his enemies.

He took off down the hallway; every so slightly a blur, the soldiers that fell never even saw it coming.

_I can't always just forget her  
__But she could try_

Death was swift and violent this day, and it wasn't caused by the hundreds of soldiers running the base.

The most violent attacks were carried out by a single man, whom had nothing to lose.

Shinji was halfway to the Eva hanger when he ran into a large group of enemy forces; they had set up a massive defensive position that was blocking his only path.

_At the end of the world  
__Or the last thing I see  
__You are never coming home  
__Never coming home_

Shinji grinned as the soldier raised their weapons.

They were positioned in three tiers, one squad laying on the ground, the second squad kneeling, and the third standing, giving them the ultimate dispersal of weapons fire.

This was not enough to stop the demon incarnate before them.

_Could I, should I  
__And all the things that you never ever told me  
__And all the smiles that are ever, ever, ever_

Shinji began jogging down the hall, the blockade coming closer and closer.

When he was within range every available soldier opened fire.

The bullets seemed like a million angry bees flying down the hallway, but never a one hit its target.

Shinji hit the line with such force that those kneeling fell backwards into the others, and sent the ones standing backwards down the hall.

Shinji quickly grabbed one soldier by the forearm and squeezed, shattering the bone beneath.

He took the man and spun him around, bringing his foot up; he kicked the man square in the back, sending him flying into two more troops trying to stand.

All three of the men broke through the wall behind them and came to rest in an unused office.

_Get the feeling that you're never  
__All alone and I remember now  
__At the top of my lungs, in my arms she dies  
__She dies_

Shinji grabbed another soldier by the helmet with both of his hands. As the memory of recent events continued to flood his mind, driving his anger and new found powers, he crushed the soldiers head like it was a grape.

He dropped the corpse and turned around as the squad that was lying had finally risen to fight.

He dropped to the ground quickly and swept the men, shattering bones and joints alike.

_At the end of the world  
__Or the last thing I see  
__You are never coming home  
__Never coming home_

Shinji quickly jumped back up and roundhouse kicked a soldier that was trying to attack from behind.

The man flew twenty yards down the hallway and hit the ground, sliding to a stop against a wall.

Shinji turned to face those that remained and spoke, "You should not have come here. All of you will die this day." His voice dripped with hatred, and anger.

Those that had heard his voice over the radios could have sworn that Satan himself was on the other end.

_Could I, should I  
__And all the things that you never ever told me  
__And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me  
__Never coming home  
__Never coming home_

He eyed the remaining eight men, each stood shakily in their massive armor, guns at the ready, and yet none were brave enough to take start the attack.

"Pathetic." Shinji said as he phased out of view.

The soldiers looked around quickly, when one of them screamed in pain.

The rest looked towards him, and almost lost it as they saw a hand sticking out through the front of his vest.

Shinji pushed the corpse off of his hand, slipping it out of his back where it had entered.

"Now the pilot will kill you." He said with a demonic chuckle.

_Could I, should I  
__And all the wounds that are ever gonna scare me  
__For all the ghosts that are never gonna catch me_

Shinji walked slowly towards the other men, each step bringing them closer to death.

From somewhere down the hall behind him, a quick flash of light was seen and a whirring sound could be heard.

Shinji turned and thrust his hand out, stopping the RPG in its tracks. It sat hovering in place for a moment as Shinji looked at it.

With a flick of his wrist the round was sent back down the hall and exploded at a corridor where reinforcements had attempted a sneak attack.

_If I fall  
__If I fall (down)  
__At the end of the world  
__Or the last thing I see  
__You are never coming home_

_Never coming home  
__Never coming home  
__Never coming home_

Shinji turned back to face his victims again, he charged forward, grabbing one man by the left wrist.

He flung the soldier around and hit three of the soldiers, sending all four of them flying.

Shinji dropped the now detached hand of the man he had just flung.

_And all the things that you never ever told me  
__And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me_

_Never coming home  
__Never coming home_

Shinji turned to the last three survivors and grinned his eyes glowing brightly, "Your never gonna make it home now." He said as he faded from view again.

The three men pulled back in a tight circle, backs together.

They scanned the hallway, but there was nothing to be seen.

They slowly started to spread again when the heard string of pins hit the ground.

They looked down and realized that all the pins on their grenades had just hit the ground. They opened their mouths to scream, but the scream never made it out.

_Could I, should I  
__And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me  
__For all the ghosts that are never gonna_

Shinji walked onto the upper level of the command center and looked around.

His voice boomed as he spoke, the child everyone knew was no more.

"Is everyone alright?" he said as his voice shook the terminals.

They looked at him and slightly nodded. Fuyutski looked over at him and noticed the expression upon his face and he turned back to Maya, "Prepare Unit One for immediate launch." He told her.

Maya looked stunned but then ejected the plug so that Shinji could enter.

Shinji looked across the floor, "Do not worry, this will all be over soon." He said as he disappeared from before them and reappeared atop Unit One.

On the surface, a single bomber flew overhead; a twinkling was all that could be seen as they released the bomb that would make the next step of the assault easier.

As the bomb collided with the road below, all was lost. Everything within a one mile radius was evaporated; the only thing left was a gaping hole in the ground that exposed the Geofront to natural sunlight.

A massive barrage of missiles poured in through the hole, causing massive damage to the headquarters exterior armor.

Shinji only grinned as the building shook around them. He walked the Eva over to the catapult.

"Remember Maya, release the stop locks before I reach the surface. I'm going to end this fight right now."

Maya nodded as she readied the launch tubes, the ones that weren't flooded at least. Shinji stood on the platform that would take him to the surface.

He was anxiously waiting for the launch command, but he understood that it would take a minute.

He wasn't sure what kinds of troops were left on the surface, but it didn't matter, not a one of them would survive this day.

As he received the signal that everything was green, he grinned demonically and snapped his fingers. The internal speakers came to life with a bit of static.

_Moon light is thought to transform some_

_People into the strange creatures to drive others mad._

_Ola soy Fernando yenta_

_One small step for man_

_One giant leap … for man k…_

_Does the moon actually posses_

_Such strange powers or is it all just lunacy._

Shinji Ikari, once the savor of man, and slayer of angels, had been killed this night.

The only thing that remained of the once gentle boy was the demonic being that rode the berserker, and much like an ancient knight upon his horse, this being was to bring death to those whom crossed his path.

Shinji slammed his fist down on the launch button in the cockpit and rocketed towards the surface. Less than five seconds later, Unit One was sailing several thousand feet into the air.

_Let's take a blast to the moon baby  
__I sit around wishing you well  
__How I'm craving you, Yeah!_

He had no sooner cleared the launch tube when the missiles and high power ammunition was sent flying his way.

He just grinned as he deflected the missiles back towards those who shot them. He landed on his feet with the power cable trailing behind him.

He reached out and grabbed one of the nearby VTOL by the tail and began swinging it around like a small club, batting the other aircraft out of the air.

On the ground the commander of the ground forces was barking orders left and right, "Target the power cable, take out that god damn cable!" he shouted to his troops, who were already re-aiming their sights on the exposed cable.

Shinji disregarded the shots as they came in and continued to focus on those that were right in front of him. He drew his right arm upward across the front of his body to his left side, then swiped it quickly back to the right, sending out an AT pulse wave that destroyed everything in its path.

There was a loud boom behind him, causing him to turn quickly.

He watched in amusement as the power cable was flopping around wildly as the electricity arced this way and that.

The power connection on the back of the Eva disconnected and fell away to the ground. Suddenly two massive missiles impacted upon the back of Unit One, one to the head, one to the back. Each one exploded harmlessly upon him.

Shinji cackled viciously "You fool's, that will not stop a damn thing." He said in the cockpit.

He focused intently on his connection to the Eva, overpowering his mother's soul with the images of the loss of his love; the anger that swelled inside of him should have torn him apart for sure.

He needed to have complete mastery of the beast he possessed.

The soldiers looked on in horror as the massive robot squatted slightly, a massive AT field began to generate around it, and the sound it made was horrible.

The Eva then opened its mouth and spoke "You ignorant sons a bitches are going to regret this. I swear on it." the voice sounded eerily familiar, and only those in the base knew exactly who it was.

Shinji laughed out loud, the Eva doing the same, "I have an S2 organ, and there is no stopping my wrath now!" He shouted.

The troops began to spread out and flee the area, now in utter fear of their lives.

_I always wanna swallow you down  
__I'll be right here if ya' need me_

Shinji watched as the troops fled before him.

He was not done with them yet though, he extended his palm and a massive vortex of energy formed in his palm.

With a flick of his wrist he sent the energy flying across the open fields, and into the largest gathering of troops, their screams never even made it out of their throats.

_In my life, I'll need you here, don't ask why  
__I'll never disappear_

Cmd: Shinji, we have confirmed the full retreat of the soldiers, but….

Shinji watched the screen before him, "But what?" he asked.

Cmd: it looks like there are nine Eva carriers inbound. They must be carrying…

"The rest of the Eva series… Excellent." He said with a grin.

He watched as the carriers flew overhead and released their cargo, one by one.

All nine Eva's fell from the sky for a short time before wings suddenly sprouted from their back and they began circling over Shinji's head.

"Oh, isn't that nice." He said as he snapped his fingers again, this time massive wings of energy sprouted from his own back.

With a quick downward thrust of his own wings Unit One was airborne and in quick pursuit of its new enemies.

_Why is it everyday that I feel the pain?  
__Let's take a trip to the stars far away_

The first Eva never even saw what hit it; one second it was flying through the sky, the next its head had been severed clean from the shoulders, splitting the entry plug in half, the body careening down into the ground.

The other eight Eva's quickly made their way down to the ground, obviously aware that the target had air superiority; they calculated that they stood a better chance on the ground.

Shinji quickly changed his direction and headed into a steep decent towards another Eva.

The massive white unit managed to look up before its head was crammed straight down through its body into the ground below by a massive purple fist.

Shinji stood from his kneeling position and gently wiped his hands off.

"Two down, seven to go." He said as he looked around and noticed that all the Evas' appeared to be equipped with a massive blade weapon.

"Hmm, let's make this more interesting." He said as he raised his hand.

_Where were you when I was down?  
__Staring into the dead_

From somewhere deep inside of the base the massive Lance of Longinus stirred. As if being pulled on by a massive force the lance was pulled from it position and began to tear through the levels of the fortress to return to its rightful owner.

Only seconds after it was summoned it was now firmly in the grasp of the one who was destined to wield it.

Shinji twirled the spear around quickly as he slowly approached another of his targets.

"Oh, and don't think I don't know about the S2 organs you have. I plan on completely destroying you." He said as he stopped twirling the spear, he jammed the handle of the spear in the ground and stood before them, waiting for them to make the first move.

_My pain is caused by my pleasure  
__My soul mate lives in your body  
__I can't get you out of my head_

Two of the remaining units rushed him from the sides. They each swung their massive weapons from the right, attempting to split him at the waist.

Shinji simply grabbed the spear just below the blade and jumped, letting the weapons collide with the staff of the spear.

Both units looked up to locate the target as Shinji pulled the spear up into the air with him. He landed on the enemies weapons and quickly thrust it into the core of one unit, then drew it back, piercing the other unit's core as well.

Shinji back flipped off the weapons as both the units fell to the ground, completely lifeless.

_It never goes away  
__In my life, I'll need you here, don't ask why  
__I'll never disappear_

He stood triumphantly over his latest two kills; he spun the staff again, this time stopping with the weapon in his right hand behind his back spear head aimed to the left.

He reached out with his left hand and motioned for the last five to make their move.

They each looked at each other hesitantly; their data was obviously not current on this target.

Each one was running thousands of scenarios through their systems, and each one was coming out with the same conclusion, that death was a constant, and there was no escaping it.

Nodding at the same time all five of the Eva's rushed forward, hoping that the shear power of numbers would give them an edge.

"Oh, so you think this is going to make it easier?" Shinji asked as he watched all five of them close the distance towards him.

Shinji began rushing towards them as well, his spear still behind him.

_In your eyes you can bid me farewell  
__But don't ever try to understand the situation  
__Why is everyday that I feel the pain?_

As the distance between them closed, Shinji threw the spear forward.

One of the Eva's was hit square in the core with the spear, flying backwards several hundred yards from the impact, and was pinned into the ground.

Shinji jumped just after throwing the spear.

As the Eva's looked back at their fallen partner, the one closest to Shinji never saw the beam of AT energy, but the massive explosion of its detonating core made the remaining three turn back again, seeing that once again the massive purple berserker was air borne, the wings on it's back flapping every so slightly in the sky.

The remaining three decided to try their luck in the sky and so spread their own wings and took to the sky.

Two of the Eva's quickly caught up to Shinji and swooped in from the sides. Shinji stopped suddenly and thrust its hand out to the side, sending piercing light out from its palms.

As the light faded from sky, two more Eva's fell lifelessly to the ground, massive holes piercing their chests.

_When I'm looking for love  
__Always seem to be regretting it_

Shinji watched as the last one began to turn back and start to flee the area.

"Oh, I don't even fucking think so." He said angrily as he sped towards the fleeing target.

He caught up to it in know time, and laughed maniacally as he held the white Eva by the neck and peeled the attached flight pack from its back.

"YOU SHALL KNOW PAIN BEFORE YOU DIE!" he screamed as he slung the Eva across Unit One's back and began to freefall from several thousand feet. Upon impacting the ground, the white Eva's back was shattered like a glass tube, blood pouring from every joint along the spinal column.

He dropped the crippled unit to the ground, the blood still pouring off the giants purple armor.

As he extended his palm outward, the Lance once again flew into his hand. "Now you may die." He said coldly as he drove the Lance deep into the core of the enemy.

_Why is it everyday that I feel the pain?_

Shinji looked around at the battlefield, there were bodies strewn about here and there.

The massive corpses of the downed white Eva's laid in their final resting places.

Shinji dropped the lance at his side, and dropped to his knees crying.

"I'll….. Never get…. To see here again….." he sobbed.

Cmd: IN FRONT OF YOU! displayed on his screen as well as a proximity alarm.

Shinji raised his head quickly, only to find that standing before him, the same size as the massive Eva, stood the one he called Master.

Master looked around the scene, "I know you did not make it in time, and I am sorry young one." He said as his short blonde hair waved in the breeze.

"Bring her back to me. I know you can do it!" Shinji shouted as he grabbed up the lance and pointed it at the man.

"You wish to challenge me?" the man said.

Shinji nodded his head, "If it will bring back my Asuka, I will do whatever it takes."

Master just grinned, then spoke "Very well then, we will see how true that is." Master clapped his hands and phased out of view.

Reappearing behind Unit One he placed one hand square in its back, and the other on its head.

Shinji screamed in pain as everything went white.

Alright folks, only one more chapter to go. hope you've enjoyed it so far.


	24. Chapter 22 part 3

Alright folks this is it. The final chapter in what has been, in my opinion, a decent story. I hope you've enjoyed it, and I want to say now that I do appreciate all the reviews and messages I have gotten since the beginning of the story, and Razgriz, if your still reading this story, thank you for your input, but at the time I wasn't planning on making massive changes to this story. Perhaps if you can find the time you could be a beta reader for another story I will be starting later this year.

Disclaimer in Ch 1.

**22.3**

Shinji looked around; he didn't know what had happened.

One minute he was in his Eva, standing before Master. The next thing he knew he was standing in an open field, the wind blowing the wild flowers around him gently.

"Where did you go? Get out here now!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Master shimmered into view several yards in front of him. "You said that you would do whatever it takes, correct?" the man said.

Shinji nodded his head, "Yeah, even if it means fighting you." He stated.

Master chuckled "Trust me that will not be necessary. I just want to see if you have what it takes to reclaim what was lost to you. Let us take a look back and see exactly what it is you are choosing here." Just as Master raised his hand Shinji stopped him.

"Wait, where are we? What is this place?" he asked.

Master raised an eyebrow then glanced around, "Oh, this place? Well, you see, in order to reason with you the way I am, I had to artificially start Third Impact. At this point in time everyone on earth is combining into one being, their souls at least. Your decision here will determine what happens to all these people." As he continued his movements the scenery around them changed to the flight deck of a massive carrier.

_I think you can do much better than me_

_After all the lies that I made you believe_

They watched as Misato, Toji, Kensuke, and Shinji crossed the flight deck from the helicopter to the bridge.

"Why are you showing me this?" Shinji asked to the man standing next to him.

"To see which path you shall choose." The pair continued to watch as Asuka made her appearance and the resulting slaps.

Shinji couldn't help but chuckle as he was really the only one that didn't look. With a snap of his fingers Master again changed the scene.

They were now standing across the street from the group that attacked the children days before the angel fight. Shinji winced as Asuka was kicked in the knee.

_Guilt kicks in and I start to see_

_The edge of the bed_

_Where your nightgown used to be_

Shinji couldn't help but cringe as he watched his violent attack on the boys.

Master watched his reactions with intrigue.

Another snap and the scene changed again, this time they were standing in the mall, watching the two children walk around.

Shinji remembered this day, it was the day that he hinted that Asuka was something more than just a comrade to him.

They were then fast-forwarded to the time in the swimming pool, and how she had tried to teach him how to swim.

_I told myself I won't miss you_

_But I remember_

_What if feels like beside you_

Shinji could still feel the warmth of her body as she held him close so that he would not drown, and his embarrassment that his body reacted the way it did.

They now stood in the kitchen later that night, it was the first time Shinji had actually asked her out, and of course she said yes.

He also relived those moments before the mission, when he confessed his love for the young woman.

_I really miss your hair in my face_

_And the way your innocence tastes_

_And I think you should know this_

_You deserve much better than me_

Now they stood on the mats of the training room deep within NERV.

Shinji quickly looked around and watched as Joe had actually appeared from a shadowy doorway.

"No wonder I never saw him before." He muttered.

Master nodded before speaking "Yes, he was sent to test the strength of your powers at this point."

They watched as the fight ensued, and of course the quick ending as the alarms sounded.

Master once again snapped his fingers; they were now standing in the void that was the twelfth angel.

Instead of two Eva's though they could see the actual pilots of the mecha.

_While looking through your old box of notes_

_I found those pictures I took_

_That you were looking for_

Just as the units powered down, the two spectators were standing atop a building outside the angel.

They watched as Unit One broke out of the being, carrying Unit Two like a delicate object towards a recovery elevator.

Shinji was starting to have a hard time watching these events.

"Why are you doing this again?" he asked, Master just continued to watch and snap his fingers at what seemed to be important intervals.

_If there's one memory I don't want to lose_

_That time at the mall_

_You and me in the dressing room_

Shinji watched achingly as several moments of near intimacy between the two flashed before him.

They never did get the alone time they had wanted; he had promised her that they would have that time later.

Another snap and the two were floating in the sky above Asuka as she fought Bardiel.

Winning one moment and coming within inches of dying the next, Shinji couldn't help but lurch forward as the watched her plug begin its launch towards the enemy.

_But I remembered_

_What it feels like beside you_

_I really miss your hair in my face_

_And the way your innocence tastes_

_And I think you should know this_

_You deserve much better than me_

Another snap and Shinji was once again in the halls of NERV headquarters, but this memory was more recent than he cared to remember.

He watched himself fly down the hallways, taking out squad after squad of soldiers as they tried to slow down his progress in reaching the Second Child.

He quietly gripped his right hand and was praying that Master would not take them where he knew this was going.

Master placed a hand on Shinji's right shoulder and snapped his fingers again.

_The bed I'm lying in is getting colder_

_Wish I never would've said it's over_

_And I can't pretend… I won't think about you when I'm older_

_Cause we never really had our closure_

_This can't be the end_

They now stood in that god awful room, the wind from the destroyed window blew the curtains around.

Shinji could only watch himself as he leaned over the woman he loved as she drew her last breaths.

_I really miss your hair in my face_

_And the way your innocence tastes_

_And I think you should know this_

_You deserve much better than me_

They watched as he stood and started towards the door, his powers now back in full effect.

They also watched as time stopped as Joe and Master walked in from the darkness.

Shinji gritted his teeth, "You knew…. You knew she was going to die and you did nothing?" He drew his fist back and took a swing at Master, but his fist was blocked by the man's right hand.

With a quick flex of his muscles Master had the young boy on his knees, "I did, but you would not have survived the rest of this day if I had saved her. You both would have died, and the earth would have died with you." Master then nodded to where his other self stood next to the woman and leaned down, touching her left bicep.

"Look familiar?" The man asked Shinji as they watched the tattoo form on her skin.

"You…. You gave her the tattoo after she died?" he asked.

Master nodded "I did, all for this very reason." Shinji looked perplexed, and released the tension in his body, signaling for Master to let go.

"You see, while Third Impact brings everyone together, it also allows one to create their own _perfect_ world, a world with no pain, only happiness and pleasure. The only problem is that the person that creates this world is the only real person in the world; everyone else in it with them is actually nothing more than a figment of their own imagination."

Shinji hung on every word the man said, as if the reasoning behind everything was hidden in his words.

"Meaning I could have a world without Angel's and Eva's, one with her, but it would be a fake world?"

Master nodded, "You would only think you were happy, but in your mind you would always remember that it was all fake, and that the real Asuka you know is actually dead and gone. This would eventually drive you over the edge of insanity, as your conscious and sub-conscious minds started to conflict more and more."

Shinji looked down into his hands as the tears began to fall.

_My hands are searching for you_

_My arms are outstretched towards you_

_I feel you on my fingertips_

_My tongue dances behind my lips for you_

"Asuka, where are you?" Shinji asked as he continued to look into his palms as if the answer he were looking for were somewhere in them.

He hit the ground, crying uncontrollably. The power within him began to surge, and the flames of his soul began to appear around him, his cries of sorrow became cries of rage and the flames exploded around him.

_This fire rising through my being_

_Burning I'm not used to seeing you_

_I'm alive, I'm alive_

Shinji threw his head back and screamed shaking the void of white he was in.

Suddenly Shinji could feel a very familiar presence around him, something else was near him, he could feel a change in the area around him, and everything was becoming hazy.

_I can feel you all around me_

_Thickening the air I'm breathing_

_Holding on to what I'm feeling_

_Savoring this heart that's healing_

Shinji rose to his feet and watched as Master smiled before fading from view, the haze now to thick to see through.

He turned in circles trying to locate the source of this feeling.

He could feel two hands gently grab his waist and slowly move forward, slowly rubbing and sliding to his stomach and up to his chest.

_My hands float up above me_

_And you whisper you love me_

_And I begin to fade_

_Into our secret place_

He closed his eyes and the familiar female voice whispered into his ear.

"I love you Shinji." As he opened his eyes again, he was standing on the hill overlooking Tokyo-3.

This was her favorite spot, something about the way the sun shimmered off the massive buildings that brought a smile to her face.

Shinji could hear a soft violin playing music somewhere; he knew the song after just three notes.

It was a song that she used to love to play, though he could never get the notes right for his cello.

_The music makes me sway_

_The angels singing say we are alone with you_

_I am alone and they are too with you_

_I'm alive, I'm alive_

Shinji brought his hand up to the place on his chest where he could feel the pressure of someone touching him.

He leaned his head back, and felt a soft pillow of hair press into the back of his scalp as the owner leaned forward, putting her cheek against his back.

"Oh Asuka, I'm so sorry I failed you." He said as the tears threatened to fall again.

He heard a whisper on the wind, "It's not your fault, and I will always love you." It said.

_I can feel you all around me_

_Thickening the air I'm breathing_

_Holding on to what I'm feeling_

_Savoring this heart that's healing_

Shinji quickly turned around but the presence was no longer there.

"Where…. Where are you? Why can't I see you?" he asked and he continued to search for his love.

"I'm sorry Shinji, but you can't see what isn't alive." Said the voice with a tone that said she was crying.

This broke Shinji's heart and he hit his knees again, he would never be able to touch her again, never see her bright smile.

_And so I cry_

_The light is white_

_And I see you_

_I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive_

There was a loud clap and bright light that temporarily blinded the boy.

As the light dimmed he looked up and could see the faint image of Asuka standing a short distance in front of him.

He quickly shot to his feet and took off running through the grass around him.

_I can feel you all around me_

_Thickening the air I'm breathing_

_Holding on to what I'm feeling_

_Savoring this heart that's healing_

As he reached her, he wrapped his arms around the girl and spun her around.

"Oh god, I miss you so much. I love you Asuka." He said through tears, Asuka smiled sadly and returned the hug as strong as she could.

"Shinji, you must go back to Master. This is not what you want. Take my hand and return to him."

Shinji shook his head; "NO!" he screamed "I won't leave you again."

It was now Asuka turn to cry, "Anta baka?" she asked "He told you none of this was real, nothing that you will see here will be real. I'm only here to help guide you back."

She slowly extended her hand out, "Please Shinji."

_Take my hand, I give it to you_

_Now you owe me, all I am_

_You said you would never leave me_

_I believe you, I believe_

Shinji took her hand, and was standing before Master once again.

"Why am I here?" he asked, wiping the tears away.

Master smiled "I am going to offer you a chance to change things. You see, right now you are as close to a god as you can get for a human. But continuing down this path, you will end up in the world I described earlier, all pleasure, no pain, but with the knowledge that it's fake."

Shinji nodded "So what can I do?" he asked.

Master nodded gently, "All you have to do is make a simple decision, you can either continue down this path, knowing what you know…. Or I can send you into the past, at the point you came to Tokyo-3 and you can relive all the events of the angel wars. The choice is up to you, but I must inform you that if you chose to go back, not only will your powers be fully under your control, you will also retain all of your memories from the past year."

Shinji brought his right arm up to his left bicep; Master nodded "That is the true power of that symbol."

Shinji thought for a moment, 'continue on in a fake world with the ones I love… or start that whole nightmare all over again.' Shinji continued to think as the mist once again crept up behind him, not enveloping him this time, just his back.

He could feel the pressure of someone pressing their chest into his back, and their arms wrapped around his chest.

_I can feel you all around me_

_Thickening the air I'm breathing_

_Holding on to what I'm feeling_

_Savoring this heart that's healed_

Shinji raised his head to meet Masters Gaze, and as he opened his mouth to speak everything fades to black.

A crowd boo's and hiss's from their seats and the man called Master steps up onto a massive stage, with a white screen behind him.

"Thank you for reading The Spar. This story was inspired by, well…. No reason other than someone close to me pushed me hard into completing this." He said.

With this Joe slowly fades into view, "Your goddamn right you asshole, it took you long enough." He said.

Master turned to him, "Hey, I got sidetracked damn it, I couldn't help .it…. besides how many stories have you been 'working' on since I started mine? Hmm?" he asked.

Joe started whistling and looking in random directions, "Okay, that may be, but goddamn it you did it again…. Wait, if this is the last chapter, what the fuck happened? Why are you doing this to me?" Joe screamed as he collapsed to the ground.

"Well…. Cause it leads the way for this." Master snapped his finger and everything goes black.

**Re-Trial**

In the middle of a deserted town, a lone boy stood at a payphone.

The boy looked down at the phone in his left hand, which kept repeating the same prerecorded message.

"Due to an emergency all circuits are busy. Please head to the nearest shelter for assistance." The message continued again.

The boy looked around and down at himself, he was wearing a pair of black steel toe boots, black jean shorts that came just below his knees, and a black muscle shirt that exposed his massive arms.

He slowly reached over with his right hand and touched his left bicep.

He could feel the outline of the cross and serpent, the points of the crown, and the gentle slope of the wings.

The boy lowered his right hand and looked straight ahead then spoke. "This time, I **won't** lose." He said as he dropped the phone.

Thats right folks, I've left potential for a sequal story... course that depends on wether I have the time and all that. Please R&R!

.  
KiaserKoh, A.K.A. The Master.


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